The Cry of the Phoenix
by SOLDIER-MS
Summary: A cry for help, a cry for peace, a cry for truth. With not one but an army of Phoenix's to face the X-men will need the help of a warrior and a hero to save the universe and uncover the truth behind what broke Jean and Scott apart. Jean/Scott
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men, nor do I own Jack Robinson AKA Slayer

Slayer is property of slickboy444 and is being used with his permission

What does belong to me is the masked Phoenix and Sieg. This is set in the 616 universe after the Secret Invasion while the X-men are in San Franscisco. It revolves around the Phoenix of course as well as Jean and Scott, it brings up a theory that I thought up thats turned up to be false, but Jott fans could only hope.

The pairing is Jean and Scott, (I dont dislike Emma Frost, I just couldnt have imagined her being with Scott, and him especially having and affair)

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The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 1: Risen again

Manhattan, home to many including the Avengers…which was exactly why he left that home. San Francisco was a good place to live, thought there were never any super villains with the teams of X-men there he could still relax and do the right thing once in a while. Never having to worry about the X-men or the Initiative tracking him…one because there were no longer any Initiative heroes stationed in this state and the X-men were hopefully a neutral party, especially considering Wolverine was part of the rebel Avengers team from time to time. He walked across the streets of the city, his face hidden by a hood. His wardrobe consisted of a pair of baggy dark blue cargo trousers, which had a black line travelling down the left leg. He also wore a dark blue sleeveless hoody over a long sleeved grey shirt, covering his hands were also a pair of blue gloves, the kanji symbol on the back of his jacket translated to spirit. A smile crossed his face as he saw a few mutant children running past him, closely followed by a pink haired girl with pixie type wings. The X-men declared San Francisco the official mutant sanctuary and that meant that any surviving mutant would make their way there. He suddenly felt a rumbling in his pocket and he reached into it, removing his flip phone.

"Hello!" He said.

"Hey Sieg how's it going in Cisco?" A sharp Spanish accented voice asked on the other end.

"Things are fine here James, how are you doing in the random place you've made home?" Sieg asked.

"I've got to tell you I should have moved to the homeland as soon as they passed the registration act, but these phone calls cost me so I'll make it quick"

"Are you sure about this James, I mean I was going to go job hunting and I'd rather not be doing favours for a questionable character like yourself" Sieg said, scratching his head sheepishly.

"Hey I'm technically not an American citizen so I don't have to register with anyone, and you owe me a favour with all the transport I've offered you, but its not today, I felt some strange psionic signature at the golden gate bridge in Cisco, it was so powerful that it made my nose bleed so I can only imagine what's happening to the woman with huge tits whose name I keep forgetting" James explained.

"Are you talking about Emma Frost?" Sieg asked.

"No I'm talking about big tits McGee, of course I'm talking about her idiot"

"Ok, I'll check it out but if Frost detected it then its likely that the X-men will be investigating too"

"Well we both now how much you respect any hero, even Iron man...though I can't see why"

"See ya James!" Sieg said, hanging up his phone and putting it back in his pocket.

Sieg turned in the direction of the golden gate bridge and began running down the road on his way to it.

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While this mysterious boy went on his way, the X-men were there already. The familiar sight of the X-men's black bird caused the pedestrians below to scatter as the hatch opened. The Astonishing X-team consisted of Beast, Storm, Colossus Armour, Dazzler, their leader Cyclops and of course Wolverine.

"I've gotta say Cyke, I think that this is a sign" Wolverine said gruffly.

"Of what?" Cyclops asked.

"That you've been spending too much time getting a decent crib for the baby and so Emma's…"

"Finish that sentence and I'll blast you off the bridge Logan" Cyclops said as he walked towards the edge of the bridge and looked down.

"I must say Emma having these psionic induced seizures has me worried…are you sure you shouldn't be there with her Scott?" Hank asked.

"I offered to stay, but Emma said that it would be better if I went with you, she said that this surge was familiar"

The other X-men looked down from the bridge and Hank immediately began to reel down a sonar device he had built. He looked at the monitor intensively as the sonar detected nothing above the ordinary…at first at least. Hank immediately widened his eyes as the sound bounced off of something bigger than a standard fish, in fact it must have been the size of a full-grown killer whale at least.

"Something big is down there, hang on a second…oh my stars and garters it's getting bigger" Hank gasped as the image did get bigger.

Then the monitor screen cracked and the sonar itself was destroyed. The team looked down, Dazzler and Colossus gulped as bubbles started popping on the waters edge. Wolverine popped his claws while Cyclops put a hand to his visor. A red light began to glow beneath the water and the X-men and any all of the civilians that were dwelling on the bridge gasped at what rose from the water. It was black but gave off a red fiery glow and it was at least half the size of the bridge.

"What the hell is that thing?" Dazzler asked.

"It looks like an egg" Piotr pointed out.

"Thank you captain obvious" Logan growled.

The giant egg could be seen from miles away, though Sieg was more focused on getting to the area of the incident, even he looked at the giant egg.

"Oooookaaaaay….that's new!!" Sieg said.

"You'd be surprised" A blonde haired man said from behind Sieg.

"Excuse me" Sieg said, not hearing the mans comment.

"I said what a surprise" The man sheepishly smiled

Sieg, Naïve as always nodded before he ran away, failing to notice the eye shaped mark glowing on the mans forehead.

The X-men all stood ready for anything as the egg began to crack. Suddenly as a piece of the egg dropped the X-men and all the surrounding people clutched their heads as they felt a great pain overwhelm their minds. It was like a scream, a scream for help. Sieg rolled across the floor as a gold phoenix symbol appeared around his eye.

"AAAAAGH…that scream was insane, but that voice sounded familiar" He said as he got up off the floor.

While the X-men recovered a single figure rose from the hole on the egg. It appeared to be male and wore a male version of the Phoenix costume, black coloured with a mask covering his whole face and instead of the gold cloth around his waist it was wrapped around his neck like a scarf. The black Phoenix looked down at the X-men, the red lenses of his mask glowing a sudden green colour before they shone red. He looked to the sky and every person on the planet suddenly heard a voice in his or her mind.

"_**People of this planet"**_ The voice began, the voice was calm but held the hint of rage, _**"Too long have we simply observed, too long have we denied ourselves the peace we need, too long have we stood watching and denying ourselves the simple truth, well no more, we shall bring our peace by destroying the heart of reality itself"**_

The Black Phoenix looked down at the X-men, Scott in particular and said "**But first we shall be rid of the one who deceived us" **

As Sieg arrived at the bridge a black dome suddenly surrounded the area of the bridge. Everything was a fiery red inside the dome, as if everyone was in the middle of a blaze. Sieg looked towards the egg and gasped as five foot long miniature versions of the Phoenix raptor flew out of the egg. Sieg looked towards the civilians that were still here, some struggling to run through the cars crammed together. Then he saw the raptors flying towards them and without hesitation he rushed forward. In a flash of blue light one of the raptors was knocked back. The phoenix's, like little chicks looked curiously at Sieg, he stood in front of the civilians, holding a red and grey sword in his right hand.

"I don't care who you guys are, if you try to hurt these people I'll kick your ass"

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He stood on the roof of a building, looking at the dome that covered the golden gate bridge as the marks on his forehead and hands glowed.

"That cry for help, it was also a cry for truth" He said to himself as lights flashed around him and his trench coat changed into a suit of ornate samurai armour. The eye on his forehead shone more intensively as he began jumping from rooftop to rooftop. "Then maybe it's time I found that truth...with the eye that sees no lies"

Next Chapter 2: The dream of heroism

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What does everyone think? If the first chapters boring then it gets better. I promise Jean will appear later, and fans of slickboy's Slayer will see him in action in chapter 3, 2's for the X-men and my character.

Leave a review if you'd like, the feedback helps


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men (though I'd like to) or Slayer

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The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 2: The dream of heroism

"X-MEN SCATTER!!" Cyclops yelled out as he shot one of the phoenix raptors in the chest.

Following their orders the X-men spread out, Beast jumped over a car, scooping two civilians up in is arms and rolling to dodge a burst of flame spat out by one of the raptors. Wolverine instead opted for the direct approach. Colossus picked the Canadian mutant up and threw him into the raptors. The flames burnt off his shirt but with a few quick slashes two of the raptors disappeared.

"BEAST DRAW THEIR ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE CIVILLIANS! DAZZLER FOCUS YOUR BLASTS WITH MINE! ARMOUR AND COLOSSUS YOU TWO PROTECT THE CIVILLIANS! STORM USE RAIN ON THE RAPTORS!!" Cyclops yelled out.

Each of the X-men followed their orders; Armour took a blast meant for a civilian while Storm pelted the raptors with intense hails of rain.

"Fools the heat we generate is so intense that it evaporates the water before it can even touch us" The Black Phoenix said, hovering above Storm.

"Then how about wind!" Ororo said with a smile.

A strong gust of wind sent the Phoenix flying towards the ground, leaving a crater in the middle of the bridge.

**"My turn!"** The Phoenix said casually before several cars around him began floating above the ground.

The seven cars suddenly flew towards Ororo, who flew to the left to avoid them, then she flew upwards and batted two away with a gust of wind before flying underneath another and smoothly rolling past the last of them. Storm widened her eyes as she came face to face with the masked Phoenix corp member. He grabbed her by the neck and squeezed firmly, the aura of the phoenix glowing around him.

**"You were like a sister to her and you couldn't seek out the truth for her, you are but one on the list of those who will die for not seeing the truth"** The Black Phoenix growled s Storm gasped for air.

Suddenly one of Dazzler's blasts flew into the Phoenix's back. The masked man simply turned around and flicked his wrist, sending Dazzler flying into one of the bridge wires. Storm struggled to get out of the Phoenix's grip until he finally let go, and turned his attention towards Scott. The Black Phoenix took flight towards Cyclops, the halo of the phoenix raptor blazing behind him. Cyclops fired a blast at the Phoenix, but the optic beam didn't even make the cosmic entity flinch. The masked Phoenix's eyes glowed an intense red colour and the X-men were astonished to see the Phoenix fire a beam identical to Scott's optic blast. Scott yelled as the beam slammed into his chest and pinned him against a car door.

"Scott are you all right?" Beast asked.

**"You…were a first"** The Black Phoenix began, floating in front of Hank as he tended to Scott. **"You were the smartest of them all…and yet you couldn't see past deception!"**

The Black Phoenix thrust his hand forward and sent Beast flying straight through the car door and onto the bonnet of a taxi. Then the Black Phoenix's flames became more intense and the rubble around him began to melt. He landed on the floor and thrust his hand forward. Colossus quickly threw Cyclops away and was engulfed in a blaze of fire. His steel skin was glowing a red-hot colour as he swung around and punched the Phoenix straight across the head. Though the punch appeared to make him reel back, it didn't actually hurt as the Phoenix looked at Colossus casually, he pulled his fist back and slammed it straight into the X-man's face, sending him careening through the air until he landed through the roof of a truck.

"This things power is unreal, I can actually feel the heat from the raptors when I punch them" Armour said, looking at the Phoenix with a look of fear.

"How goods your throwing arm kid?" Wolverine asked.

"This doesn't seem right" Armour muttered in embarrassment as she picked Wolverine up by his legs and threw him towards the Phoenix.

**"FOOL!!"** The Phoenix yelled, turning his head and blasting Wolverine with the same optic blast he used against Cyclops. **"You claim to be the best there is but that didn't help you find the truth did it?"** The Phoenix said in pure anger as he picked Wolverine up with telekinesis.

He held the X-man above the ground, spinning him around like a wheel before tearing bits of his skin off. Wolverine yelled out in pain but his healing factor allowed him to recover. The Black Phoenix pulled his arm back and threw Logan straight into Storm, sending both of them falling to the ground.

**"Pathetic, you are all pathetic…not only could you not see, but you can't protect either"** The Black Phoenix stated as he began hovering above the downed X-men.

His head suddenly turned towards the end of the bridge, as if he could sense the battle going on.

The countless people that Sieg now protected looked at him in shock; each one of them wondering if he was a member of the X-men or an Initiative hero. Sieg pulled on the collar of his shirt, which doubled as a mask to cover the bottom half of his face. He gripped his sword tightly as blue mist rose from his legs and abs. He rushed forward, leaving a blue trail behind him as he batted one of the raptors across the head with his blade. Then he picked up the little girl that the raptor tried to attack and jumped backwards.

Sieg landed near a small group of gathered people, ushering the girl towards them, he then threw his sword. The blade flew straight past the six raptors as they flew forward. Sieg moved at incredible speed, punching one of the raptors across the face, then kicking another in the chest. Blue energy surrounded his hands and feet as he blocked swipes and blasts from the cosmic entities. The red and grey sword flew back towards the raptors and into Sieg's hand. He swung his sword forward and unleashed a blade like wave, sending the phoenix raptors flying back.

"Ok, everybody stay back while I try to get you out of that dome, I don't know what it'll do if you approach it" Sieg said to the civilians as he landed in front of the escaping people.

He walked towards the wall of the dome and placed his hand on the surface. Nothing happened and it appeared to be a normal wall at least. Sieg stabbed his blade into the wall and began dragging it around, cutting a hole onto the dome. He motioned his hand for the people to get away and thus they scurried off. As soon as they left the dome the hole sealed itself up again.

Sieg merely grunted "I wasn't planning on leaving anyway" he said before he turned his head towards when the X-men had been fighting.

Sieg saw the Black Phoenix watching him and began running in that direction. More Phoenix raptors appeared to block his path. Ten flew towards him but were batted away by the energy that the sword generated. Sieg jumped into the air, leaving a trail of blue mist behind his feet. He stepped off of several of the phoenixes, jumping in between them like a pinball before he finally jumped towards the Black Phoenix. Sieg pulled his fist back and swung forwards. But suddenly he stopped in midair, being held in place by the Phoenix's TK.

**"We have seen you before…you would do well to stay away, and die when everyone else dies…the chosen down there and the woman who caused the White Phoenix's suffering will die first"**

"The White Phoenix" Sieg said curiously.

**"You would have called her one of your heroes like the man down there, but he's no hero"**

"You mean Cyclops, of course he's a hero" Sieg said in shock.

**"He is no hero…no lover…no friend…no husband…no leader…he is but a deceiver"**

"Deceiver...wait a second because he's with Emma Frost, what's wrong with moving on?"

**"Ignorant child, you know nothing of the situation, of any situation, you charge recklessly without knowing the consequences"**

Sieg growled at that comment "And what's wrong with being a little headstrong, I don't waste my time on What ifs, I'll act and fight as hard as I can!" he said as red energy surrounded his form.

He thrust his sword forward, launching a blue energy blast that engulfed the Phoenix. When the smoke cleared Sieg gasped in shock, as the man had remained unaffected by the blast.

**"You cannot defeat fire and death incarnate!"** The Phoenix growled before he extended his hand.

A golden light flew from the Phoenix's hand and Sieg suddenly began yelling out in agony. Never in his life had he felt the physical and mental pain that the Phoenix was causing him now. Images ran through his head, a boy sitting alone in a wrecked park, of a red and grey armoured figure and then of a band of X-men, the first X-men and Jean Grey. Then he heard voices!

"_Leave me alone, I don't have time for you"_

"_Do you want to be bitter and alone for the rest of your life son?"_

"_MOVE KID!!"_

"_I NEED A DOCTOR HERE!!"_

"_Absolutely not we don't know how he'll react, it could compromise your identity as well"_

"_SHUT UP THIS KID ISNT GONNA DIE!!"_

More and more memories flashed through his mind both images and the voices to go with them. He saw several of the X-men floating above the water, and to their astonishment a beautiful red haired woman flew out of the water, the fiery halo of the phoenix flashed behind her and her green and gold costume giving off a strange shine.

"_Hear me X-men!! No longer am I the woman you knew! I am fire and life incarnate! Now and forever I AM PHOENIX!!" _

Sieg continued to yell and more and more memories flashed through his mind. He saw the many happy times that two lovers shared, the people behind the masks of his heroes Marvel Girl and Cyclops. Both the good and the bad, and the final minutes.

"_Live Scott…all I ever did was die on you"_

The pain stopped and so did the flashes as Sieg crouched on the floor, puffing and panting as sweat dripped onto the floor. He contemplated the things he saw and looked over to Cyclops, not sure of how to react to the situation. Sieg leant on his sword and looked up at the Phoenix.

"So that's it huh…well I guess I could see why your angry, but that's no excuse for you to try and destroy everyone…if you got a problem then settle it with Summers alone" Sieg said, glaring in between Scott and the Phoenix.

**"We shall have peace, AND TRUTH!!"**

Once again Sieg felt himself being thrown back by the force of the Phoenix's telekinesis. He was slammed back first into the side of the car, and then smacked like a rag doll against the floor. Sieg yelled out as he was thrown into the air, spinning around and around until he fell onto the windshield of a taxi. He groaned as he rolled off the car and got up off the floor, stretching his stiff back and neck back and forth until he regained some movement. Sieg panted as blood ran down a cut on his forehead. A symbol of the phoenix suddenly appeared around his eye as he heard a voice call out to him.

_Help me!_

The symbol of the phoenix disappeared and Sieg's pupils changed to a red colour. Like paint the colour spread until Sieg's irises were completely red. Sieg gripped the sword in his hand tightly, growling as cracks spread across the blade and hilt. Suddenly the sword shattered and red, grey and gold armour began to cover Sieg's arms, the armour then spread to his face, creating a helmet with a diamond shaped visor, red hair burst out of the back of the helmet and a bone like spine ran down Sieg's back until it ended at his waist in the form of a long bladed red and grey tail that slammed against the ground as Sieg looked up at the black Phoenix. Plates opened on Sieg's arms, releasing air before a burst of red energy was released from his knuckles. The energy acted like a pair of wings or the fire from a rocket as it propelled him into the air.

Each one of the X-men looked in shock as the boy pulled his fist back. But much to their surprise and the Phoenix's instead he flew past him and towards the egg. The raptors flew towards him, trying to defend the egg, but each one of them was sliced in half by Sieg's huge tail. Sieg slammed his fist into the egg and the Phoenix widened his eyes as the armoured hand had gone straight through the egg. Sieg's tail cut off more pieces off the egg, allowing him to break through completely.

"That armour!" Wolverine said curiously.

"What is it Logan?" Colossus asked.

"Nothing, that kid reminds me of someone"

Sieg was only 17 and so he hadn't exactly seen the whole world, and he was astonished at the things in the egg. He swam for miles in what could only be described as red-hot orange yoke. Sounds disgusting but Sieg actually felt heavenly in here, that and he was actually too Naïve to even think about what he was swimming in. The egg itself seemed like a totally new world, as it was actually bigger outside than it was outside.

He raised his eyebrows as he looked on ahead, seeing a red bubble. Inside it, curled up into a ball was a red haired woman, her beautiful form covered by a white and gold phoenix uniform. Sieg didn't have time to admire her, nor was he really the kind of person to admire as he reached into the bubble and pulled on her shoulder. He ran a clawed gauntleted finger across her face, surprised that the person he was saving was in fact the beautiful X-woman he had seen in the vision, one of his favourite heroines Jean Grey.

**"GIVE HER BACK!!"**

Sieg widened his eyes at the sound of the thunderous voices surrounding him. He looked around and saw hundreds of men and women dressed in different coloured versions of the Phoenix uniform.

**"Ok being attacked by an army of people dressed in clothing that looks very bad on men is something that doesn't happen to me very often…but where have I heard it before?"** Sieg wondered, his voice giving off an echo through his helmet.

The Phoenix corps began to fly in around Sieg, fiery halo's hanging over their bodies as their eyes lit up in pure anger. Sieg lashed out with his tail, bashing several away before he began kicking his legs as fast as he could to get away. More members of the corps flew in the middle of his path. Sieg head butted one straight on the head, then punched and kicked the other two, all the while using his tail as a swimming fin. He backhanded one of the Phoenix's and then kicked another across the head. Kicking his legs and swinging his free arm Sieg swam closer and closer to the exit.

**"Almost there, COME ON!!"** Sieg yelled and with one more sweep of his legs he grabbed onto the edge of the Egg and pulled himself out.

But the Phoenix corp. members grabbed at the woman's legs. Sieg sat on the edge of the egg, pulling on the woman's arms.

**"YOU DARE HOLD THE WHITE PHOENIX OF THE CROWN!!"** A pink haired teen yelled.

**"I'LL DARE ALL DAY NOW GET OFF!!"** Sieg yelled, punching the Phoenix across the face before pulling the woman out of the corps grip.

Sieg dropped towards the ground; landing on his back in order to protect the woman he had just saved. The X-men all got up off the floor and looked at the woman Sieg carried in his arms. His armour and tail shattered, the small pieces reassembling into the red and grey sword, which was now stabbed into the ground.

"Jeannie!" Logan said.

Each of the X-men ran towards Sieg, who without thinking of his own injuries gave Jean to Logan.

"Hey red…red are you awake?" Logan asked, shaking Jean's peaceful form.

"She's breathing…thank the goddess" Storm said.

"She must had been in a state of suspended animation while in the egg" Hank theorised.

While all of the X-men gathered around Jean only Scott lingered, a neutral expression on his face. His eyes instead crossed to Sieg, the one person who heard Jean, or so he thought. He was more confused over this boy's motive, what he would achieve by helping them.

"Who the hell are you kid?" Logan asked, rather harshly.

Sieg merely closed his eyes and smiled, it was a funny thing of his. He would never ask for something in return, not even a thank you. Instead he grabbed his sword and leant on it for support and looked up at the black Phoenix.

"Hey X-men…you might want to get your friend out of here" Sieg said.

"What?" Cyclops said in confusion.

"You're really going to fight that thing?" Armour asked, pointing at the Black Phoenix.

"Yeah…buy you some time to get to that jet of yours" Sieg said, and without hesitation he ran and jumped towards the Phoenix.

**"Foolish boy!"** The masked Phoenix whispered before grabbing Sieg with the talon of his phoenix aura and throwing him into the ground.

Immediately Sieg got up and attacked again, but again and again and again he was thrown down by the Phoenix. And again and again and again he got up off the ground, astonishing the X-men with his resolve and determination.

**"JUST STAY DOWN!!"** The Phoenix yelled, firing an optic blast straight into Sieg's chest.

Beast jumped into the air, using his body to cushion Sieg as the force of the blast threw him back. Wolverine, Colossus and Armour began running towards the Phoenix while Dazzler blasted at him with her powers.

"Hank, is he ok?" Storm asked, looking over Sieg with Hank by her side.

"The cut above his eye isn't too much to worry about, he could have a concussion though from those hits he took" Hank said as he took out his light to look at Sieg's eyes.

But Sieg's eyes were better than Hank thought they would be. The boy immediately brushed Storm and Beast off of him as he got up off the floor.

"Listen child, I think you really need to take a breather, your bones could be cracking for all you know" Ororo said.

"They need help!" Sieg said, looking at the three X-men fighting the Phoenix.

Colossus was thrown to the floor by TK while the Phoenix punched Armour across the head. Wolverine tried slashing at the masked man, but ended up getting his mask and half his face burnt off. The Phoenix blasted Colossus with an optic blast, then his right hand crackled with gold electricity as he shocked Wolverine and used his free hand to control his Telekinesis in order to throw Dazzler, sending her rolling across the floor before hitting her head on the bumper of a car.

"What's the term they're using nowadays…owned!" Beast said.

"SHUT UP HANK!!" Logan yelled in between the pain.

Sieg dragged his sword across the floor as he rushed the Phoenix again, shooting a glare at Cyclops before jumping and slashing at the Phoenix with his blade. A bubble of telekinetic energy surrounded the masked man and Sieg slashed violently at the barrier. Armour came running in, slamming her fist into the Phoenix's bubble. Both young heroes hit the barrier at the same time, and both of them yelled in pain as gold electricity shocked them both. While Hisako laid out across the floor, Sieg leaned on his sword, struggling to make sure he didn't fall down again.

'Damn, it cant end here, there's got to be someone who can help, please I just need that power one more time…come on, give me that power once more!' Sieg thought as he faced down the Phoenix alone.

The flaming Halo of the Phoenix lit up around the masked man as he flew over Sieg and the fallen X-men. While the X-men were beaten, Sieg would never give up…but he needed just as much help as the X-men.

Next Chapter 3: Enter Slayer: Warriors Spirit Vs Cosmic Force

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Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next one introduces Slayer for real

I originally thought it would take me two weeks to post this, but I had some free time and decided to work on this


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men or Slayer

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The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 3: Enter Slayer

'Don't you fall down again, keep fighting' Sieg thought to himself, his knees shaking as he struggled to stay up.

The Black Phoenix stretched his hand out and clicked his fingers together. Phoenix raptors began flying out of the egg and circled around Sieg. He took his sword out of the ground and stumbled as he slashed one of the raptors across the chest. Sieg fell to one knee, and then rolled across the floor to avoid a swipe from one of the phoenix raptors. He stood to his feet, slashing one of the phoenixes in half before falling to his knees again. And again he got up but fell down after slashing one of the Phoenix raptors.

'Get up! Get up! Get up!' Sieg thought to himself over and over again.

He finally managed to stand on his feet; barely steady before the Phoenix pushed him with his TK. Sieg leant on his sword and looked at the Phoenix. It was a hopeless fight for Sieg, but he wasn't the type to just give up.

"**You fought bravely foolish child, but in the end your effort amounted to nothing" **The Black Phoenix said as he aimed the palm of his hand at Sieg.

"On the contrary, he bought some time just like he said he would"

The Phoenix looked up and down the bridge, looking out with both his eyes and telepathy for the bearer of the proud voice that had just spoken out.

"The bearer of a warrior spirit against a cosmic force capable of destroying a solar system…and to think I was actually afraid!"

The Phoenix finally laid eyes on the one who had dared spoken against it. He stood over Sieg's fallen form, his purple oriental armour giving off a slight shine, with triangular eye markings shining on his hands and forehead. His blonde hair hung loosely over his shoulders, and his hand gripped the hilt of a Katana type blade.

"Who are you?" Sieg asked the warrior standing in front of him.

"Slayer…normally I don't interfere in the issues of you heroes but this is a special case, in turns out this incident is right up my ally" The Warrior explained as the Phoenix raptors lined up.

The raptors flew towards him and in one quick motion; Slayer drew his sword and slashed at the raptors, slashing them all in half. He then jumped onto one of the bridge wires, swinging off it and flying towards the Phoenix. Slayer slashed at the Phoenix, who bought his hands up to defend. The warrior moved at amazing speed, appearing below the Phoenix, crouching with his sword stretched out.

Looking at his wrist, the Masked Phoenix was surprised to see a trail of blue energy running across his wrist where the warrior had tried to cut him. But the Phoenix merely brushed the energy away before firing an optic blast at Slayer. The warrior rolled to the side, his eye glowing fiercely as he reacted to the Phoenix's attack. Slayer jumped over one car that the Phoenix tried throwing at him, and then countered with what appeared to be electricity launched from his hand. It did little but distract the Phoenix, but Slayer soon followed through on the attack by throwing a car on top of the masked Phoenix. With a quick motion of his hand the Phoenix threw the car off of him and looked around for Slayer.

"Over here!"

The Phoenix turned around just as Slayer reappeared. Slayer grabbed the Phoenix's head, energy crackling around him. The Phoenix yelled out before pushing Slayer away. He took his hands away from his head, revealing a glowing blue phoenix symbol on his forehead.

"You…what did you do?" The Phoenix asked in anger.

"Magic, that rune will insulate your cosmic power, giving me enough time to do this" Slayer said, sheathing his sword as he began waving his hands together, drawing in energy like water before launching it at the Phoenix.

The energy waves slammed into the phoenix's chest, throwing him backwards and straight into the engine of a car. There was an explosion and the Phoenix walked out of the flames, though he wasn't injured or burned, his body still shook from the force of the attacks he had just taken. Slayer drew his sword and began dragging it across the floor, taking a running start towards the Phoenix. He jumped at the phoenix, crashing his blade down on the Phoenix's telekinetic bubble. Slayer slashed at the Phoenix again, who knocked him back with a fiery energy blast. Jumping to his feet, Slayer immediately ran towards Phoenix again at speeds comparable to Quicksilver. His blade stopped just inches from the Phoenix's neck before the warrior himself was thrown back.

'Damn, he's still got access to his other powers, but they are greatly reduced' Slayer thought to himself as he got up off the floor. 'Ok, the X-men have the original Phoenix host, so right now all I have to worry about is defeating this masked one'

Slayer dropped into a fighting stance, the marks on his hands and head shined even fiercer as blue energy began to surround him. With a single step Slayer appeared in front of the Phoenix. The Phoenix ducked as Slayer slashed at him, with a sword that crackled with energy. Then the Phoenix jumped up to avoid a horizontal slash. Slayer jumped after the Phoenix, landing a solid punch to his gut and kicking him across the face.

The Phoenix fell to the floor then flipped onto his feet, dodging a crash of Slayer's sword, one that would have beheaded him. Slayer slashed at him again, and again the Phoenix dodged the blade by an inch. The phoenix fired an optic blast at Slayer, who created a sphere of mystical energy to protect himself. Then the Phoenix fired a fiery wave from his hand, breaking through Slayer's shield. The warrior quickly recovered from the blow to his chest, and faced the flat side of his sword in the direction of the Phoenix. Again the Phoenix fired an energy blast, but like a mirror the light reflected from the blade, and slammed straight into the Phoenix's stomach.

"**Well done vessel of Yoshinto!" **

Slayer widened his eyes at what the Phoenix had just called him. The aura of the Phoenix began to slowly surround the masked man and the symbol on his forehead began to disappear.

"Oh shit!" Slayer mouthed.

The Phoenix aura smacked Slayer with its wing, sending him flying into Colossus.

"What the hell happened?" Dazzler asked as she awakened.

"This guy pulled some weird magic shit on the phoenix there, it reduced its power but not for long"

"If you would please Hisako Ishiki show some respect, it is not magic shit" Slayer said as he helped Colossus up off the floor, surprising the Russian with his strength.

"I hate magic!" Wolverine said.

"Magic hates you!" Slayer smirked as he ran at the Phoenix again.

But this time the Phoenix was the first to attack with his optic blasts. Slayer ran and jumped from side to side, knowing that if he reflected the blasts they would only make the Phoenix stronger. He bought up an energy barrier to defend himself from the Phoenix's flames. But the black Phoenix grabbed the orb like barrier that Slayer was encased in. The aura of the phoenix wrapped its wings around the barrier as the flames engulfed the orb, cracking it; Slayer quickly chanted a short-range teleportation spell, appearing beside Storm.

"Ok this is harder than I thought it would be, Miss Munroe I think its time your team got out of here" Slayer said to Storm, who nodded back.

Despite the fact that he was a mystery Storm knew she could trust this man. He had great prowess in a fight, and despite the aura of mystery surrounding him he also gave off something else, something that Storm had felt from the boy Sieg, hope.

"Ok X-men, we have to get back to the jet, Beast you get Dazzler and Armour, Wolverine you carry Jean" Ororo said, her voice taking on authority as she switched to leadership mode.

"No problem darling!" Logan said, picking Jean up delicately.

"Hey, aren't you going to carry your wife?" Sieg asked Cyclops.

"She isn't my wife" Cyclops said as he ran alongside Piotr.

Sieg growled as he turned towards Slayer, whom had his back turned to the retreating group.

"You should get out of here kid, you're in no condition to fight the Phoenix, you did a good job saving the woman but that's all we can ask for of you" Slayer explained.

The Warrior showed little surprise as Sieg walked past him and held his sword out.

"I'm not the kind of person who only goes as far as he needs to, I'll go beyond that!" Sieg said.

"Admirable, you've got as much courage and honour as most people I've seen in this world" Slayer said.

"Honours got nothing to do with what's right!" Sieg said before running at the airborne phoenix.

"**FOOL!!" **The Phoenix yelled, slapping Sieg away with the wing of its aura.

Sieg's sword fell straight into the ground in front of Slayer, who at first was ready to run to Sieg's aid but stopped once he looked at the sword. It glowed a sea blue colour and the eye of Yoshinto began glowing the same colour as Slayer moved his hand towards the hilt of the sword. He touched the blade and numerous images flashed through his mind.

* * *

He saw a woman dressed in black clothing, fighting her way through numerous machines. The observers of this battle talked with one another, their obvious subject was her.

_"My professional opinion? …………The Important thing is to reinforce her new identity!"_

"_Check don't go by any of the old names"_

Then more scrambled images flashed through Slayer's mind, some of the armoured woman fighting strange android creatures, others of Jean Grey and Scott Summers wedding. While some showed the memories of a lonely boy sitting on the park swing, of a purple and red armoured creature, being fought by a warrior in red and grey crystallised armour. And then he heard the voices.

"_Live Scott!"_

"_I must return…"_

"_Off the record!"_

"_Come on kid stay with me"_

"_The boys lost a lot of blood, he needs a transfusion"_

"_SHUT UP THIS KID ISNT GONNA DIE!!"_

Slayer threw himself back, rubbing his forehead as he looked at Sieg's sword.

"Memories" Slayer said, he hypothesized that the sword contained and absorbed memories.

Jack Robinson, the warrior known as Slayer and vessel of Yoshinto looked up at the Phoenix egg, and then towards the sword. His focus was lost when Sieg ran in, grabbing the sword and rushing the Phoenix again. Slayer smiled to himself as he closed his eyes and focused with his all Seeing Eye.

* * *

Slayer had been to a few magical dimensions in his long career. But this white void was new for him. He looked all around him; this entire world was just an endless wasteland. The only life form there was Jack himself and a man standing with his arms crossed, his red and grey crystallised armour shining in the light. Slayer took a few steps towards him and opened his mouth to speak.

"**I have felt your memories Jack Robinson!" **The armoured warrior spoke.

"You mean you saw them?" Jack asked.

"**All the pain, all the suffering…the loss of a loved one, you are one who can truly understand the suffering that the love fragment will experience"**

"The Love fragment?" Jack said curiously.

"**That woman that Sieg saved was one of many fragments of Jean Grey, love, hate, sorrow and happiness"**

"How do you know all this, in fact how do I know that you're not a trick from the Phoenix?"

"**You know because you have to have faith, not faith in your honour or your eye, but faith in people, because faith is lacking in this new world that Iron man created, have faith in my words Jack, and faith in the right thing that has to be done"**

"What is that?" Jack asked.

"**You must go into the egg, and pull out the rage, do not be concerned though, like the love she will be unconscious, however you must not let Emma Frost or Cyclops touch her, for they are the causes of this disaster"**

"Because of the psychic affair they had?"

"**That man, Cyclops you might call him may not be who he appears to be, tell Sieg to have faith in love and he will understand"**

"You know is it possible for Summers to have fallen in love with someone else"

The armoured warrior turned around, revealing a diamond shaped helmet and a pair of glowing red eyes.

"**Tell me Jack Robinson…since Layla have you ever loved…and I mean truly loved another woman"**

Jack raised an eyebrow at that comment; surprised that someone was capable of breaking through his mental shields.

"**I don't know it myself but I have faith in the love between two people, it may sound Naïve but that's always been my problem…I believe true love never dies!"**

Slayer nodded, beginning to understand the mans reasoning.

"You have my word as a warrior that I will bring the pieces together"

"**After you recover this fragment discover the truth and await the return of sorrow and happiness"**

Slayer nodded his head in respect for the mysterious individual. The scenery returned to normal and Slayer almost jumped up in surprise as Sieg landed in front of him. Jack walked up to the boy and patted him on the shoulder.

"Have Faith in love Sieg!" he said to him.

"What?" Sieg said in confusion.

"I know it's a lot to ask but can you buy me just one hour?" Slayer asked.

"Sure" Sieg said, without hesitation and without thinking.

The two swordsmen got up off the floor, one looking at the Phoenix, and the other looking at the egg. They broke off in two directions, Sieg heading towards the Phoenix while Slayer jumped towards the egg. Slayer stabbed his sword directly into the egg and began punching at the surface, trying to break a hole onto the egg while searching with his eye. Sieg beckoned for the Phoenix to attack him, smiling with glowing red eyes. The Phoenix lunged at Sieg, who back flipped, narrowly avoiding the flaming wing of the phoenix aura. He began to growl as his sword took on a crystallised form and shined with red energy. With a roar Sieg stabbed his sword into the ground. Suddenly red crystal pillars burst out of the ground, all of them slammed into one another, trapping the Phoenix in between them.

"THAT GIVES YOU FIVE MINUTES NOW GO!!" Sieg yelled at Slayer.

With one more punch Slayer created the hole he needed. Grabbing his sword he dived into the egg. He didn't have time to admire the scenery as members of the Phoenix corp. immediately began attacking him with blasts of fiery energy.

"Yuck, when I think about it I'm actually swimming around in yoke!" Jack said as he swam at amazing speeds, dodging the blasts that the Phoenix's fired.

Slayer searched the egg with his eye; all the while avoiding the attacks form the corps members. He smiled as he finally found the exact position that the rage fragment had been put. The warrior began kicking his feet as fast as he could, slashing two corp. members in half that dared to get in his way. Slayer stopped as he saw where the rage fragment had been put, a small barrier rather similar to what the love fragment had been contained in. He thrust his hand forward, grabbing the woman by her shoulder and pulling her out of the barrier. Jack almost gasped as the woman he carried wore the dark Phoenix costume.

"**TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF THE DARK PHOENIX! SHE IS FIRE AND LIFE INCARNATE!!" **The Pink haired Phoenix yelled.

"Don't worry I'll bring her back good as new" Slayer smirked as his sword flashed with a brilliant light, blinding the corp. members.

Slayer jumped out of the hole he made in the egg and landed just a few feet from where Black Phoenix and Sieg were fighting. It was mostly a one sided battle for the Phoenix, who now stood over a battered Sieg. Slayer looked towards the hole at the top of the dome, where he saw the X-men's jet still waiting for them. He thought of yelling out to them to get the hell out of there. But he knew better as Storm began flying back down towards them.

"I don't believe that I'm about to do this!" Slayer said to himself as he broke off into a run.

The warrior jumped over and on top of cars and trucks as he approached the Phoenix. Putting all his concentration into reinforcing his psychic shields Slayer lifted his sword and swung it at the Phoenix. But the Phoenix flew to the side, dodging the blade. Lighting suddenly crashed down upon him, knocking him away from Slayer and Sieg. Slayer sheathed his sword and picked Sieg up, both relaxed as Storm began to levitate them up towards the jet.

"Wait a second, is that another Jean?" Ororo asked, almost loosing her concentration.

"Yes Storm it is another Jean, it's a very long story which would better be explained to everybody once we get back to your base" Slayer said, sighing for he really wasn't in the mood to explain everything now.

As the Blackbird flew away from the giant dome at its top speed the Black Phoenix stood up, brushing the dust off his uniform. He looked up at where the jet once was and yelled out.

"**WHY COULDN'T ANY OF YOU SEE THE TRUTH!!"**

Next chapter 4: Explanation and unwanted houseguests

* * *

The X-men get an explanation and a few unwanted houseguests...nuff said

Tell us what you thought of the chapter, and if you liked Slayer check out some of slickboy's fics, they're a real good read

Next chapter introduces a character from another comic and an OC character of mine whose appeared in other fics, the man who appeared to task Slayer with restoring Jean is another OC character of mine, see if you could guess his name and what fic he appeared in.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men or Avenger's Initiative

* * *

The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 4: Explanation and unwanted houseguests 

To say the atmosphere on the blackbird was cheerful would have been a lie. All eyes had turned to Slayer and Sieg, the two that had just happened to get involved in the situation. Cyclops looked sternly at Slayer, who still held on to the Dark Phoenix version of Jean. The X-men leader ignored Sieg's glares, deciding to speak to the adult.

"All right now's the time for explanations" Scott said firmly.

"Oh come on, I just got out of a weird Phoenix egg, I'm probably soaked in cosmic energy, my private memories and thoughts have been discovered by some guy living in a sword, I've been tasked with protecting the fragments of the Phoenix, which I unfortunately have no idea what the other two look like and to top it off I've missed an appointment with a rather expensive but beautiful hooker, so I really really really am not in the mood to explain what has to be done and why I've gotten into this shit okay!" Slayer said, leaving the X-men flabbergasted.

"Uh…what was that part about a guy living in a sword?" Armour asked.

"Firstly he's not a guy he's a spirit, and he doesn't live in the sword the spirit is the sword, a guy living in a sword's impossible!" Sieg said grinning.

"Someone's got to explain what's going on"

"I'd rather wait until we get back to your base, it saves me having to actually have a conversation with that woman with the big tits whose name I keep forgetting" Slayer said, to which Sieg blinked in confusion.

'Wait a second, did James just possess that guy?'

"Watch your mouth, besides she can hear everything your saying through me" Cyclops growled at Slayer.

"Then I suppose we can explain, hi my names Sieg, basically I'm an unregistered super human who does what he's got to do, anyway I was staying in the city for a time until a friend of mine, a psychic tells me he sensed a strong psionic burst, or some kind of psychic activity at the bridge I'm not quite sure how to describe it…you know what happened on the bridge, I saw the memories of Jean Grey, which were absorbed when my sword clashed with the Phoenix, that's when I heard her calling out to me" Sieg explained, nodding his head towards the White Phoenix as he spoke. "I got her out of the egg and then Slayer was contacted by the heroes spirit in my sword"

"He explained to me that the fragments of the Phoenix needed to be found so that Jean Grey could be complete" Slayer began, "These fragments are love and hate, which we have recovered, the other two are happiness and sorrow, I don't know where they are but this heroes spirit implied that the two fragments would come to us of their own power" He explained.

"If he said that then there's a likelihood that they will" Sieg said, having faith in his hero.

"Oh and another thing and this is for you to hear Cyclops, he said that you and Emma cant touch these two while they're in sleep, he said that you were the cause of all of this"

"The way I see it this whole thing started because Jean can't stay dead" Scott said and the other X-men gasped.

Even Slayer was shocked by the mans outburst. But Sieg was pissed. He ran at Scott, punching him right across the face.

"WHAT THE HELL'S YOUR PROBLEM YOU SHOULD BE GLAD THAT JEAN'S COMING BACK!!" Sieg yelled.

"If you had let me finish…" Cyclops began casually, "Jean isn't coming back, she'll just die again and rise again then die again, Emma sticks around and I love her, I respect Jean but I love Emma!" he said in a serious tone, looking at the woman that had once been his wife.

Sieg looked at Scott in complete shock. All his thoughts on Jean and Scott had just been thrown down the drain. The two of them had been together since the beginning, they had come across problems and split ups in their relationship before, hell Scott had even married another woman but this woman looked like Jean and eventually the two of them did marry. Sieg even had Faith that had Xorn not killed Jean then Scott would have chosen her. But from what Scott had just told him, it seemed that he had completely given up on Jean. Sieg was all for moving on, but this was the love of Scott's life. Hell Sieg had grown up with the image of Scott and Jean as the perfect couple.

"So that's it huh, we'll bring her back and then she'll just live, even for me that's cold" Sieg said in disappointment as he walked past Scott.

Slayer nodded his head, he knew the boy was young and Naïve but he had to learn at some point that love wasn't always what he thought it was. Some married couples got divorced and dated other people while some people stayed together for the rest of their lives. And some people lost the ones they loved and stayed alone for the remainder of their days.

A few minutes passed and the X-men arrived at their home base. Upon arriving the two Jeans were rushed towards the medical bay, while Wolverine and Beast stayed with them, it was Cyclops who went to see Emma.

"DAMN WOMAN!!" Emma yelled, smashing her diamond fist into her mirror.

Scott walked into the bedroom and to Emma's side. He laid a hand on her shoulder and kissed her diamond skin.

"That woman…Jean, she always comes back!" Emma whispered as she changed her form back to skin.

The woman swung around, wrapping her arms around Scott's neck, while Scott placed one hand on her waist and the other on her shoulder.

"Emma, no matter what happens nothing changes all right, I still meant what I said on break world" Scott said.

Emma smiled before brushing her lips against Scott's.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

The two lovers turned around to see Storm leaning against the door panel, her arms crossed with an angry expression on her face.

"Right now we have two Jean's down in the medical bay and a masked Phoenix still out there, we've had a call from Iron man and the Initiative, they said that the Phoenix has left Earth!" Storm explained.

"She's right" Slayer said, walking to Storm's side with his eye glowing. "I've been tracking them and it appears the egg is heading towards Shiar space, more specifically the sun there"

"Why would the Phoenix egg go to a sun, maybe to draw energy, or trigger a super nova like Jean did that one time…oh well at least we'll be rid of Vulcan!" Emma said with a sigh.

"Oh god…Alex, Rachel and the Starjammer's are there" Scott said, with immediate concern for his brother and daughter.

"Wait a second…it looks like the masked guy is drawing something out of the sun, it's a tiny little flame, hmmm…the Black Phoenix must be taking little pieces of the sun and converting it into power he can use" Slayer hypothesised.

"But to what end?" Storm asked.

"They said something about destroying the heart of reality" Scott said.

"The heart of reality, then they wouldn't be here, they'd have to be in the space between the multiverse" Slayer said.

"Right now their actions are without any form of rationality, they must be insane!" Emma said.

"Wow she even comes with blonde hair!" Jack muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

* * *

Sieg lay down on the coach of the living room, his arms crossed with Armour and Pixie watching him. He opened his right eye and looked at the two of them from the corner of his eye. There was an awkward silence before Sieg decided to break it.

"Just what did you want to ask me?" Sieg asked them with an irritated tone to his voice.

"Actually I was wondering where your sword went?" Armour asked.

"I can only really summon it when its needed, and right now its not needed" Sieg asked with a sulky voice.

"I've got a question…why do you look so moody?" Pixie asked.

"I'm not moody, I'm just pissed off about your leaders attitude"

'But pissed off is moody isn't it?' the two girls wondered.

It was then that Colossus walked into the room followed closely by Dazzler.

"We called Sam and Amara, they're on their way over, Wolverine got on the horn to his X-force team and their own their way too" Colossus said.

Then Nightcrawler ported into the room with Angel beside him.

"We've been getting a lot of fliers from the Initiative today, you've got quite the reputation Herr Siegfried!" Kurt said, patting Sieg on the back.

"Please just Sieg Mr Wagner"

"Call me Kurt and I'll call you Sieg" the demonic mutant said.

The two of them nodded and shook hands.

"I vas vondering, you vouldnt happen to be German vould you?"

"Well my grandpa lived in Germany before the war broke out so he took to calling his children by German names, my mum thought that Siegfried suited me, but my friends call me Sieg" The boy explained, rubbing his head sheepishly, he was actually proud of his name and didn't care what people said, its just he wasn't exactly comfortable talking about his background.

But still Sieg felt that he could trust the X-men. They were after all a group of heroes he looked up to as a child; he had actually wished he was a mutant, which made him real popular at school. The group began talking amongst themselves, mostly about what had happened today, but Meggan also bombarded Sieg with questions. He didn't hate it mind you, he just wasn't used to people actually being interested in his adventures.

"And then I turn around and I see of all people Venom standing over me, now I wont lie he's a pretty scary guy, and for once there aren't people around cheering the registered hero on, but I actually couldn't decide whether or not I should run away or fight, after all you guys did here what they did to Jack Flag and Steel Spider?" Sieg asked the group who all nodded their heads.

"When I heard about that I was actually glad that we weren't part of the Initiative" Warren said.

"What happened next, did you fight him?" Meggan asked, an excited expression plastered across her face.

"Well I guess you could say that…I kicked Venom in the balls, threw Penance into a building, broke Moonstone's nose and got out of there, crime was relatively low in that state anyway"

"Oh god, I saw that video on the internet, some guy edited his recording so that it showed you kicking Venom in slow motion, you should have all seen the guys face as soon as Sieg's foot made contact" Dazzler explained.

Logan walked into the room, followed closely by the X-force members Warpath, his girlfriend Hepzibah, X-23 and Domino, though instead of their black ops uniforms they were dressed in their regular costumes. Wolverine sat down on the coach and sighed.

"How are the two Jean's doing?" Sieg asked.

"Their life signs are stable, at the moment they just seem to be asleep, The Cuckoos volunteered to read their minds, but Hank denied them the opportunity" Logan said.

There was a moment of silence, in fact a full five minutes where no one spoke. Sieg tapped his foot impatiently against the floor. He slowly got up, with an aura of red energy surrounding his body.

"GOD DAMN IT!!" He yelled out.

"What is it kid?" Wolverine asked.

"I cant stand this, just waiting around for something to happen, I can feel it out there, I can feel the Black Phoenix and the egg flying through space, my hero keeps telling me to be patient but I cant, for all we know the phoenix could be getting stronger and stronger with every bit of flame that it takes" Sieg explained, slamming his fist against the wall.

"That's exactly what its hoping to achieve" Slayer said as he walked into the room with Bobby and Ororo.

The other X-men all stood up as Slayer addressed the group.

"This Black Phoenix is taking small flames from each sun in the universe, this process is being carried out faster than the speed of light even as we speak, I'm not a hundred percent sure but I believe that it works much like a village river, a little bit of water to keep one villager alive, the egg is the village and the corp members are the villagers, but the chieftain, that's the masked Phoenix is stealing from other villages in secret, he could drain the whole river but he doesn't want to leave the other villages to starve" The warrior explained.

"Wait a second you mean he doesn't want to destroy every solar system, I thought he wanted the heart of reality destroyed" Logan said.

"It's just a theory but he may be looking for a way to destroy the whole universe in one fell swoop instead of triggering super novas in each solar system…look Sieg I know your impatient, I am too but right now we need to gather some allies and wait for the phoenix fragments to get here, my eye reacted a few minutes ago but I didn't see anything, oh and speaking of allies that reminds me, where any of you able to reach some of your former students?" Slayer asked Warren and Kurt.

"Right now most of the students are focused on living their own lives, we've got the Young X-men here as well as the Cuckoos and Blindfold, but they wont be good for the major battle situations" Warren explained.

"No one can blame those kids after all they've experienced" Slayer said, lowering his head a little.

Suddenly the warrior's eye glowed a fierce orange colour and he immediately raised his head. The X-men got up off their chairs and looked to the warrior.

"Down the corridor near Emma and Scott!" Slayer said.

Logan nodded to Nightcrawler, who with a smile jumped to the side of Colossus.

* * *

"It seems we have an uninvited guest Scott darling" Emma said with glowing white eyes.

Cyclops put a hand to his visor while Emma changed to her diamond form. The two of them crept out of their room and aimed down the corridor. Cyclops's finger twitched as for a moment a red X shape glowed in the dark. But before Cyclops's could react the shape glowed again and a figure ran out of the shadows. The figure appeared to be a woman, wearing a black and red suit with a helmet that had a red X shaped visor. She moved with elegance as well as amazing speed, running past Scott and karate chopping his neck. The leader of the X-men suddenly felt woozy from the pressure point being hit so hard. With Scott down on the ground Emma tried punching the attacker, who swept her legs around, tripping Emma up.

"You picked the wrong house to steal from bitch!" Emma growled in anger.

The former White Queen kicked at the masked woman, but she grabbed her feet. Everything happened so fast that Emma didn't even have a chance to gasp as the woman swung her foot round, taking a chunk off the wall as she threw her into Scott. As Scott and Emma laid on the floor groaning, the woman turned her head back and uttered a single phrase.

"Forgive me!"

She began running up the corridor, until a familiar purple smoke popped in front of her. Colossus swung his fist through the smoke, missing the woman only narrowly. She back flipped to avoid another crushing blow from the powerhouse. Nightcrawler teleported behind her, but was met only with a kick to the gut. Curved blades slid out of the woman's wrists and she rolled towards Colossus, she rolled to the left, dodging another blow while dragging her blades across he floor. Again Colossus tried to strike her, and again she dodged. She eventually slid her blades back in and stepped back. Piotr looked at the woman in confusion before he looked down, and noticed that the woman was actually cutting a circle into the floor. The weak floor collapsed underneath the X-man's weight and the intruder simply walked on.

* * *

"She's taken down Nightcrawler and Colossus" Slayer said to the remaining X-men.

"Dazzler, X, Domino, you three try to cut her off, John, Hepzibah and Warren, get to the subbasement elevator and guard it in case the others fail" Logan said, immediately switching to leader mode.

"Wait a second…" Slayer said as his eye began glowing again.

It was a simple enough task, but they were in the way. While they were certainly worthy of the X they were still young and inexperienced. The young X-men, Anole, Rockslide, Ink and Greymalkin dared to get in his way. They lunged forward towards him, being alerted of the previous intruder by Frost no doubt. He ducked underneath a crushing blow from Rockslide.

Jumping off the muscle of the team he landed in front of the one that was the biggest threat, Ink. With a jab to the face he stunned the former mercenary, then he threw him towards Greymalkin. When the mysterious mutant caught his teammate, the intruder sprung his attack. He rushed forward driving a fist into Ink's chest, while head butting Greymalkin. In one fluid motion he drew the sword on his back, slashing Anole's legs off, knowing that they would regenerate.

"I don't know who you think you are pal and I don't really care, but you come her then your obviously sick!" Ink said cockily as he thrust his hand forward, the hand that had the tattoo that would induce sickness.

A weapon that was affective, but could backfire. The intruder grabbed Ink's wrist just as he activated his powers. He redirected Ink's hand towards Greymalkin, who unfortunately fell victim to the tattoos power and fell into a fit, vomiting across the floor. Ink didn't have time to berate himself, as an elbow was ran straight into his face, knocking him to the floor and out of the fight. Rockslide may have had potential but he had one fatal flaw, the fact that he was made up of pieces. The intruder drew the sword on his back and ran at Rockslide. With a slash to the shoulder he took off the X-man's right arm. With another slash he split Rockslide's fist in half. And with one more horizontal slash he took off the X-man's legs. He sheathed his sword and began to walk on.

"You've got another intruder, he's taken down the Young X-men" Slayer said.

"Everybody stick to the plan, kids, Slayer your with me!" Wolverine said as he popped his claws and ran down the corridor, followed by Sieg, Pixie, Armour and Slayer.

The five of them ran up the corridor, but suddenly Slayer's eye glowed.

"WATCH OUT!!" Slayer yelled.

A round black shield flew into the wall, rebounding off it and hitting Armour in the head. Then the shield flew towards Slayer, who ducked, only for the shield to rebound off the wall and hit Wolverine and Pixie. Slayer turned to their attacker and examined him, only slightly shocked by the mans appearance.

He wore a black mask with red eye lenses and a black suit with grey sleeves. The sleeves were tight and showed off his well-toned abs. His boots were black but underneath his laces there was dark grey rubber on the boots. The trousers he wore weren't as tight as his shirt, more based on the trousers that most army men wore except for his bared no camouflage and the sides and back were covered by ragged pieces of cloth hanging off of the belt. His mask had a hole at the top that allowed his thick sandy blonde hair room to be free, a few strands hung loosely over his eyes. The man stood with a slightly slouched neck but his stance was serious and confident. Slayer's eyes crossed over the mans gun blades, and the device on his wrist as well as the sword strapped to his back. He held his arm out and the shield smoothly flew back into it.

"You attacked me first X-men, I have little care for you Sieg, get out of my way so I can finish my objective!" The masked man explained.

"What is your objective!" Slayer demanded.

"I am Soldier and my objective is to return Shadow Initiative operative Mutant Zero!"

Next Chapter 5: Soldier vs. Warrior

* * *

That's right, Soldier from Decimation: Return and The Mission of Hellfire is appearing, and he's getting into one fierce fight with Slayer, while Mutant Zero faces some of the X-men and Sieg is left to watch on the sidelines, flabbergasted as his powers wont work. But meanwhile the Black Phoenix and his army continue to gather more power, and someone with a connection to the Phoenix force will pay the ultimate price for it.

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, feel free to review if you'd like


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men or Avengers Initiative

for those who have read stories with my OC Soldier in them, he is currently using gadgets and moves that he hasnt used yet.

* * *

The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 5: Soldier vs. Warrior

Soldier and Slayer both looked at one another, their hands crossing over their weapons while Sieg held his arm out, focusing on summoning his sword. The boy stood there for a moment before he widened his eyes in shock.

'What the hell, I can't summon my sword or my powers, just what the hell is…' But Sieg's thoughts were interrupted as Slayer struck first.

The warrior thrust his sword forward in an amazing burst of speed. Soldier simply moved his neck, only suffering a minor cut to his cheek. He bought his shield upwards, smacking Slayer's sword away. But Jack immediately swung his sword horizontally, striking Soldier's shield so hard that the masked man stumbled to the side, Slayer then took his chance to slash at him again, but Soldier rolled underneath the swing, landing a fist on Jack's chin.

"Pretty good, even without the padding on that glove that was a pretty hard punch, in fact you probably would have bruised me even without the padding" Jack said, rubbing the mark on his chin that would probably later become a bruise.

Soldier remained silent as he threw his shield to the ground. Slayer paused for a moment, his eye glowing as the masked man's hands went towards the rifle on his back. A smile crossed Jack's face as the man aimed his gun. With amazing speed Slayer blocked all the bullets with his sword. Then he thrust his hand forward, releasing a wave of spiritual wind that sent Soldier flying back through the corridor, and slamming straight into the wall.

"I think you're a little out of your league here Soldier, sure you'd make a good black operative but when it comes to super…" But Jack never finished his words as a bullet flew straight passed his head.

Slayer suddenly felt his cheek, and noticed a cut. He then used the abilities of his eye to look across the hallway. Soldier was standing with his rifle at the ready, the sight zooming in on Slayer. Jack couldn't help but smile, for the masked man actually had a shot at his head but didn't take it, this told him two things, one he was facing someone that wasn't looking to kill, and two he had underestimated this opponent.

Jack sheathed his sword and put his hands together. A mystical barrier suddenly surrounded his form and the glow on his eye intensified. The warrior began walking forward and the soldier opened fire.

* * *

Mutant Zero roamed through the corridors of the Greymalkin building, but stopped as she came face to face with Domino, X-23 and Dazzler. She paid them little attention as she walked on, however her hand did grip the handle of her sword. X-23 was the first to strike, rushing forward in a berserker rage. She slashed at Mutant Zero, who ducked underneath the blow, landing a quick kick to Laura's neck. Then she flipped onto her feet, slashing Laura's neck. While X-23 recovered, Mutant Zero ran towards Dazzler and Domino. The two women fired at Zero, who slid across the floor, in between the two women. She kicked them both across the back of the head, knocking them to the floor.

X-23 growled as she got up off the floor, only to be impaled by Mutant Zero's sword. The Shadow Initiative operative then began running down the corridors at even more impressive speeds. She suddenly stopped as Nightcrawler ported in front of her, slashing at her with a rapier. Mutant Zero back flipped to avoid a thrust from the swashbuckling hero. Her wrist blade slid out, blocking another wipe from Kurt's sword. An optic blast flew through the corridor and Mutant Zero jumped to narrowly avoid the beam. Kurt then took this as his chance to attack; he teleported behind her but was met with an elbow to the face.

"I've known you for a few minutes and already I hate you" Emma said as she marched towards Mutant Zero in her diamond form.

"Longer" Mutant Zero said as she blocked a punch from the White queen.

Emma again tried to punch Mutant Zero, but she merely flipped backwards to avoid the blow. Then Mutant Zero ran forward, grabbing Emma's neck and belt. She lifted the diamond woman straight off the floor and threw her on top of Domino and Dazzler, who had only just started to regain consciousness. Cyclops ran forward, firing an optic blast at Mutant Zero. She bought her hands up to defend herself from the blast, and was thrown back by the force of the blast. Mutant Zero quickly flipped back onto her feet and jumped into the air. She clung against the wall with her blades and jumped off as Cyclops fired another blast. Mutant Zero landed beside Cyclops, and backhanded him, smashing his face into the wall.

After giving Scott a quick glance Mutant Zero continued running down the corridor. As she left, Scott got up off the floor, his ruby quarts visor glowing as his anger flared.

* * *

Slayer had faced strong opponents in the past, but this Soldier character was perhaps the most intriguing of them all. The bullets from his rifle merely bounced off of Slayer's barrier. But even with that weapon ineffective he still ran towards Jack. Both men drew their swords and clashed them together. Sparks flew from their blades as they leant into them, trying to knock the other off balance. Slayers own enhanced strength started to take affect as he began pushing Soldier back. Soldier narrowed his eyes beneath the mask before stepping back. As Jack stumbled about, soldier stuck his foot out, tripping the warrior flat onto his face.

"That was a dirty move" Jack said as he jumped onto his feet.

"We can't all have honour" Soldier stated.

"What have you got, faith that your mission is the right thing?" Slayer asked.

"Faith…the right thing!" Soldier muttered before rushing forward.

He slashed at Slayer, who bought his blade up to defend. But Soldier altered his blades direction in midswing. Jack again bought his sword up to block, and again Soldier adjusted his stance. The two of them stared at one another, a smile on Jack's face as they danced along the corridor, constantly changing the position of their swords. They both stopped as Slayer's blade touched Soldier's neck.

"I could end you right here, but I don't think its your time to die yet" Slayer said.

"I've died once before" Soldier said.

Jack raised an eyebrow as he felt something rub against his crotch. He looked down and smiled sheepishly as the flat end of Soldier's sword was leaning against his leg, and alls Soldier needed to do was swing the blade upwards to make a very painful mess.

"Touché" Slayer said and Soldier nodded his head before both of them stepped back and relaxed their swords. "How about we kick this up a few notches?" Slayer asked.

Soldier pressed a button on the device on his wrist and a red energy shield suddenly appeared around his arm. Slayer ran a finger across his sword, which began to shine with energy, the glow on his eye intensified as well. The warrior leapt forward, slamming his sword against Soldier's shield. Soldier skidded backwards from the force of the blow, but ran forward, slamming his sword into Slayer's. The two of them stood in place, their weapons deadlocked. Both stepped back and clashed their blades together. Slayer slashed at Soldier horizontally, but only cut off a bit of his hair. Soldier thrust this sword forward, narrowly missing Slayer's cheek.

"AGH COME ON WHY WONT YOU APPEAR AGAIN!!" Sieg yelled as he yelled his hand out, closing his eyes frantically as he focused.

Sieg's yells caught Soldier's attention as he curiously looked over at the boy. Slayer, noticing that the masked man was distracted stopped his sword in midswing. But Soldier went straight back to slashing at him. Soldier blocked one swing from Slayer's sword, but with one more swing his sword snapped in half. Slayer slammed his fist into Soldier's energy shield, and sent him flying through the corridor, smashing into the coffee table by the side of the coach. Jack then used a magic force similar to telekinesis to hit Soldier in the face with the coach. He was sent slamming into the wall, leaving a small crack than ran to the ceiling.

"SIEG WHAT'S WRONG!!" Slayer yelled.

"My sword, and my powers aren't working" Sieg said, staring at his hands.

Slayer had no time to worry about that as his eye sensed activity from Soldier. Hails of bullets were sent towards Slayer, who with amazing speed slashed all the bullets in half. Soldier fired his two gun blades, aiming at Slayer's head and knees. But the warrior easily batted them away as he walked towards Soldier. The masked man reloaded the weapon at outstanding speed and began firing again.

"I'm afraid stuff like that is useless against me, if I unleashed some of my true magical power you wouldn't stand a chance" Slayer said.

"Then why don't you shut up and unleash it you coward?" Soldier asked as he ran forward, slashing at Slayer with the blades on his pistols.

"Coward…I'm no coward!" Slayer growled as he punched Soldier straight in the eye.

The force of the punch was so brutal that a crack appeared in the wall behind Soldier. Slayer looked at the masked man in shock, his right eye lens had been completely shattered, and his eye was actually cracked. Soldier gripped Slayer's wrist and slashed his shoulder with his gun blade. Slayer stepped back, examining his opponent. He almost barfed as Soldier tore out his right eye and squashed it, revealing circuitry and fake blood.

"A robotic eye?" Slayer asked curiously.

"Synthetic, kind of like the android cloning process that was used on Thor" Soldier said.

"Is that why you were able to keep up with my mystical speed, a device on your eye?"

"Contrary to what you might believe the synthetic eye is to replace something that has been lost, I wont use any kind of technology to augment my performance" Soldier explained.

"That sounds a little noble at least" Slayer said.

Soldier nodded his head before completely squashing the eye. He dropped into a stance with his pistols at the ready. Slayer raised his eyebrows as he felt Mutant Zero fighting Hepzibah and Warpath, and decided to end this fight. He gathered mystical energy into his hand and thrust it at Soldier, the blast consumed the masked man, but it was merely a concussive force that would knock him out. It didn't have that desired effect.

* * *

Mutant Zero landed a solid kick to Warpath's neck, knocking him out before she swung around and punched Hepzibah. Angel swooped in, trying to punch Zero, but she merely rolled onto her back and thrust her feet into Warren's chest, sending him flying onto the ceiling. She was suddenly thrown back by a gust of wind. Mutant Zero looked up to see Iceman and storm blocking her path. Storm threw a lighting bolt at Zero, who remained protected because of the rubber on her suit. She ran forward, jumping to the side to dodge an ice blast from Bobby. Mutant Zero kicked both Iceman and Storm across the heads. But Iceman managed to force himself up, firing an ice blast directly into Zero's chest. He pinned her against the wall, her chest covered by eggs. Iceman then blasted her feet and wrists, covering them as well.

"Sorry your little infiltration plan didn't last, man I can't believe all the other X-men had trouble with you" Bobby said cockily.

* * *

Meanwhile in the deep reaches of space, on one of the Shiar planets a woman with a strong connection to the Phoenix hid under a cloak in one of the alien markets. Her connection was because she was the daughter, or more correctly the alternate reality daughter of Jean Grey. She was Rachel Grey Summers and her two companions hiding out with her were Lilandra, former empress of the empire and Korvus, the last of his clan and wielder of the Blade of the Phoenix. With Havok and Polaris captures, the remaining Starjammers had to make do with what they had if they were to overthrow Deathbird and Vulcan.

'Damn, I wish some of the others were here' Rachel thought.

Suddenly a blue flaming phoenix symbol appeared over Rachel's eye. She immediately looked up at the sky and Korvus turned his head towards her, concern plastered across his face. His sword suddenly began glowing with its blue shine and he too looked into the sky.

"PEOPLE OF THE SHIAR! LONG HAVE YOU BEEN RULED BY RULERS UNWORTHY OF YOUR LOYALTY! EVIL MEN AND WOMEN WHO NEVER CARED FOR YOUR SAFETY! EXCEPT ONE BUT SHE WILL NOT RISE TO THE THRONE! FOR THIS ENTIRE UNIVERSE WILL BURN!!"

Rachel looked in utter shock at the black masked phoenix floating towards the ground. The Phoenix egg that the corps was contained resembled a red moon (egg shaped albeit) from the view of the planets surface. As the black Phoenix landed on the ground in front of the remaining Starjammers the people around them ran away. The Black Phoenix paid little attention to the people, his eyes focused on Rachel.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Rachel asked.

"**I am one of many who seek peace, and I knew your mother!" **The Black Phoenix said as he took a few steps towards Rachel.

Korvus immediately into the Phoenix's path, he drew the phoenix blade as he stood defiantly against a true wielder of the force.

"Stay out of my way Korvus, you are no threat"

"Don't drop your guard Rachel, I don't know what it is but I seem to sense this mans intentions" Korvus said and Rachel nodded her head.

"**Please just give me what you possess, and spend the last days of existence loving one another!" **The Phoenix said with genuine empathy in his voice.

"Your not going to destroy the universe, for you will die here!" Korvus said before charging at the Phoenix.

The leader of the Phoenix army merely held his hands out, firing a blast of energy at Korvus, sending him flying behind Rachel. Marvel Girl's eyes glowed a fiery colour as the aura of a blue flamed Phoenix appeared around her. She flew at the Black phoenix, trying to smack him with her burning wing. He flew into the air, easily dodging the phoenix wing. The halo of the phoenix force surrounded the masked man, and he thrust his hand forward. Both phoenix aura's collided; creating an explosion that shook the very planet.

Rachel yelled in pain, as she was shocked with a surge of golden electricity. She began falling towards the ground. But before her back touched the ground, the black phoenix grabbed her by the neck and held her just feet from the ground.

"**You didn't give me what you possessed, now I shall take it!" **The Black Phoenix said.

* * *

Slayer's concussive blast didn't have the desired affect, when the blue energy mist cleared the warrior raised his eyebrows in a mixture of curiosity and shock. Standing in front of him was Soldier, the top half of his mask had been ripped off, but his chin, mouth and chest was now covered by metal body armour. Steel that looked similar to Colossus's organic form or Cable's arm ran up Soldier's arms, while his wrists were covered by metal armour, his lower body was still the same as well as the gloves on his hands.

Jack whistled to himself as he looked over Soldier's new form.

"I thought you said you didn't use technology to increase your performance…hmmm!" Slayer said accusingly.

"This isn't powered armour, its just armour!" Soldier said casually as he put his pistols back in their holsters.

Soldier's hand pressed against his wrist and the red energy shield appeared again. As Slayer dropped into his fighting stance the shield suddenly began spinning around. Jack widened his eyes, not needing his eye to realise what the shield had now become. He ran forward, slashing at Soldier with his sword. Soldier merely ducked underneath the swing and swung his shield. He cut a large gash across Slayer's shoulder and Sieg too widened his eyes, now realising that the energy shield was now a buzz saw.

"Pretty good Soldier, but I'm not done yet!" Jack said as he slashed Soldier across the chest, piercing his armour.

Even with the large cut to his chest Soldier still thought on, clashing his saw with Slayer's sword. Mystical and technological energy sparked across the floor as the two men leant into their attacks. They both cut one another across the forehead. Jack punched Soldier in the chest, cracking his chest armour. But Soldier countered with an elbow to Jack's face. With the steel added to the force of the blow, Slayer was stunned for only a few seconds before he slashed Soldier's right arm, cutting into his armour. Then the warrior punched the soldier in the chest; unprotected by armour Soldier was sent flying into a wall. He coughed as he got up off the floor, to be met with a punch to the face. Slayers punch shattered Soldier's faceplate, revealing the lower part of his mask.

Sieg watched the two men fight, astonished by Soldier's fighting style and need to never give up.

'I don't understand, why wont my powers work, is as if my body doesn't even want to fight this guy…those moves he's using and his weapons, they feel so familiar…I've never felt so useless, I want to help but my body wont move, as if it thinks that Soldier and Slayer fighting and one of them winning would be the right thing' The boy thought as he dropped his hands, giving up trying to summon his blade.

Soldier then suffered another punch to the head, and a knee to the stomach. He was thrown straight through the wall, rolling across the floor. Slayer dragged his sword across the floor. Soldier immediately jumped to his feet and blocked a slash from Slayer. This time Soldier infused his sword with more mystical energy, slashing a hole through the energy shield. Soldier clutched his bleeding wrist, but fought on, releasing his slashed wrist and punching Slayer with his free arm. Slayer blocked the punched and countered, punching Soldier in the chest again. Soldier fell to the ground, coughing, no doubt bleeding internally.

"I admit it was hard at first, but eventually my eye could read your muscles and predict your action before you even made it, now come on, let me get you some medical attention" Slayer said.

Soldier hunched his shoulders as he brushed his hands across the floor. With a burst of speed he used his hands to launch himself at Slayer, kicking him across the head.

'That speed… and the strength, he was never that good before' Jack thought as images ran through his head.

* * *

_A Black armoured warrior swung a scythe, cleaving two criminals in half. He had lived a hard life, and he was never one to forgive or forget._

_A silver haired youth swung around, letting loose a volley of bullets on his opponent. Emotionlessly holding his hand out forward, blue mist began rising from his hand before he unleashed a wave of energy. This kind of life was a hard one to live, but he couldn't have imagined himself doing anything else._

_The rain batted against his dull hair as he faced a squad of riflemen. Without hesitation he began walking towards them. His grey eyes suddenly gave off a red shine as the men opened fire._

_A young man in red and grey armour fought on like a man possessed, his pupils had disappeared while his red hair spiked outwards. Though he was wounded his resolve could not be broken. His heroic spirit would never die._

Soldier landed smoothly on his feet and he ran at Slayer. The warrior's eye suddenly began glowing and Jack held his hands out. With this simple gesture Soldier stopped.

"Mutant Zero…she's in danger?" Soldier asked.

"Yeah, no Cyclops wouldn't!" Slayer said, having doubts about what he saw.

"What what's going on?" Sieg asked.

Soldier and Slayer looked at one another and nodded.

* * *

"What the hell?" Iceman wondered as a flaming aura surrounded Mutant Zero.

With a yell the ice shattered and the force threw Bobby back. Mutant Zero walked towards the basement elevator. Suddenly an optic blast flew through the corridor, hitting her back. She rolled across the floor and looked back, seeing Cyclops walking towards her. He pressed the button on his visor and shot her right in the face, cracking her helmet and shaking her off balance. Cyclops fired again, this time making the beam much more intense. The beam pinned Mutant Zero to the wall. Even with her screaming Cyclops put the beam on Zero's chest. He grinded his teeth together as Mutant Zero began to walk forward. Scott's hand began to turn the dial on his visor to intensify the beam further. But as soon as his visor touched it he felt cold steel brush against his neck.

"That's enough!" Two stern voices said.

Cyclops turned around and saw Soldier and Slayer standing together. Slayer held his sword defiantly against the X-men leader while Soldier cocked his pistol. Cyclops looked at the two of them and backed off. Soldier walked up to Mutant Zero and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you all right Zero?" he asked.

"Yes Soldier I am fine…please help me up!" She said and Soldier obliged.

Mutant Zero got up off the floor, but then began clutching her head in pain.

* * *

Lilandra watched in horror as the Black Phoenix phased his hand straight through Rachel's chest. The daughter of Jean Grey screamed in pain and her psychic cry was felt across the planet. Korvus got up off the floor, his eyes plastered with concern for his lover. The Black Phoenix dug his hand in deeper, bringing his face close to Rachel's before throwing her away. He now held a blue flame in his hand, one similar to the shine of the Phoenix blade and the aura that once covered Rachel. Rachel coughed as she laid out on the floor, looking up at the masked man.

**"I'd imagine that was a painful experience for you Rachel Summers, well you wont have to worry about that pain anymore, return to earth and spend the remaining days of existence with the X-men"** The Black Phoenix explained.

Korvus swung his sword down on the Black Phoenix. But much to his shock his opponent grabbed the tip of the blade with just two fingers. Rachel got up off the floor as the Phoenix's eyes glowed a fiery orange. Before she could react, a gold optic beam was shot out of the mans eyes. Korvus couldn't even scream as the flames burned his whole face, and eventually his entire being. The charred remains of the Shiar warrior fell the floor and Rachel stared at them in utter shock.

**"Go home Rachel, and await our peace!"** The Black Phoenix said before he flew into the stars.

Rachel crouched over Korvus's remains and burst into tears.

* * *

"ZERO ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!!" Soldier yelled as Mutant Zero continued to scream.

The other X-men, plus Sieg and Slayer gathered around Soldier and Mutant Zero. She recovered with a jolt and looked around. Soldier looked at his former shadow initiative teammate, and closed his eyes as she nodded. He stepped back, giving her some space. Mutant Zero bought her hands up towards her cracked helmet and began loosening the straps that held it together. She dropped her helmet to the floor and let her long red hair flow freely onto her shoulders and back. Scott widened his eyes while Emma frowned at the women behind the helmet.

"So, you're finally moving on?" Soldier asked.

"Maybe you should too" Zero said and Soldier merely lowered his head.

"Mutant Zero…Jean Grey's sorrow!" Slayer said.

Indeed the woman standing before them was Jean Grey, or at least a part of her.

Next Chapter 6: Reunite

* * *

The Black Phoenix and his army are on the move, continuing to gather pieces of each sun in the universe. Sieg loosens up revealing some of his true power to the Cuckoos, and makes two promises. Slayer consults his master Yoshinto on how to reunite the pieces of Jean Grey. The X-men gain more allies, both old and new.

The Itallic scenes were pieces of scenes featuring OC's and Oc's I have yet to introduce. Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, took a little longer for me to upload than I thought it would because my Internet went down but now everything's fine, It wasnt plugged in :)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men

* * *

The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 6: Reuniting

There was a mixture of reactions from the X-men in terms of the appearance of the unmasked Mutant Zero. She of course was the spitting image of Jean, considering she was one part of her. Most of the X-men such as Logan could only afford a few words to say.

"Jeannie!" Logan said, taking a step towards "Jean" only to be blocked by Soldier.

"As much as I would hate to disrupt this reunion, I'm afraid I have a mission to complete" Soldier said.

"Screw you and your mission bub" Logan growled, popping his claws out while Soldier pointed his hand guns at the X-man.

"Ok, how about we avoid another fight" Slayer suggested, to which Logan gave another growl.

"Please stop this, none of this is necessary" Jean said, stepping in between the two gruff men. "That and I don't want to see my old friends and my new friend fight" she added, looking in between Logan and Soldier as they dropped their aggressive stances.

And of course the younger X-men reacted to the situation with total ignorance.

"I thought she was dead" Rockslide said, being balanced between Anole and Greymalkin, who both sighed at their team mate.

It was then that the elevator doors opened, revealing Sunspot and Danielle Moonstar. They gasped as soon as they saw Jean, even though they had actually seen her downstairs.

"Hey what's the hold up, I do believe I have some valuable work that cant be disrup…" Hank paused as he pushed past Roberto and Dani, and laid eyes on the new Jean.

Emma scoffed as Hank immediately jumped at Jean, embracing her in a tight bear hug. Sieg smiled at the sight while Soldier looked away from the scene. Slayer noticed this reaction but said nothing, instead choosing to admire the view of two friends being reunited.

"Its good to see you too Hank, now could you please let me go, it's a little hard to breath" Jean said and hank smiled sheepishly as he put her down.

"Hey Jean, good to see you back…again" Bobby said, unsure of how to react to the situation, until Warren slapped him across the head.

The four original X-men all hugged one another; tears seemed to run down Jean's face as the others smiled. Cyclops however was speechless, and merely walked away. Sieg growled in anger, but was stopped from saying anything when Slayer gripped his shoulder. Soldier eyed Cyclops suspiciously, then turned a fierce gaze to Emma, who was obviously angered by Jean's return.

"Please, I want to see them" Jean said and Hank nodded.

"Wait, you've been ordered to return to the base, and I've been ordered to retrieve you" Soldier said, getting in Hank and Jean's way.

"Please Soldier, just put the mission behind you, do the right thing…like you used to do!" Jean said.

Soldier put a hand to his forehead, his eyes squinting as he felt someone sneaking around in his mind. In an amazing burst of speed he drew his pistol and fired. The bullet flew past Jean's head, and onto the wall just inches from Emma's head.

"Miss Frost…if you ever ever try to break into my mind again, then I promise…I'll put a bullet in your head" Soldier growled forcefully before he put the gun back in its holster.

The masked man walked past Jean and said "Don't get too comfortable" meaning that not only could Jean see her other fragments, but also that he needed some time to think. While Hank guided Jean into the elevator, the other X-men dispersed to do their own things. After a short wait, Storm and Angel followed them down the elevator along with Sieg, while Wolverine went straight to the kitchen. He reached into the fridge and pulled out a few beers.

"Need some company!" Logan looked to the doorway to see Slayer leaning against the edge.

The gruff Canadian threw a bottle at Slayer who caught it with ease. He pulled the cap off the bottle and downed at least a quarter of the beer without even relishing from the taste.

"I still remember that day" Logan said.

"Hmmm" Jack said curiously.

"The day Jean last died, we were winning the day you know, but everything for her was falling apart, I guess that's one reason why Xorn managed to get such a good shot in, her marriage was falling apart, she never found out who he chose" Logan explained.

"I think if Scott loved Jean as much as I once felt he did, then he would have chosen her" Jack said.

"Oh how wrong you could be darling"

The two men swung their heads round to glare at Emma. She leant cockily against the wall, a smile plastered across her face.

"You can't hide things from a telepath, and the thoughts that ran through Scott's head weren't just of Jean, they were of me too, in the end he chose me…and now we're both in love with one another" She explained before walking away.

'Cant hide things from a telepath my ass, you've been trying to get into my head all day bitch…maybe I should threaten to blow your head off like Soldier' Slayer thought.

* * *

Sieg walked through the corridors of the X-men's basement. Right behind Jean, Dani and Hank. He looked curiously at the glass walls, wondering whether the old mansion looked anything like this. Then his thoughts turned to his powers, and how he couldn't use them earlier. It was strange how he had never had this issue before, except for in the presence of Soldier. His eyes then drifted towards a trio of girls that reminded him of two things, Emma Frost minus the grin.

"How are they doing girls?" Hank asked the Stepford Cuckoos.

"There was a bit of activity on their brain monitors earlier, but right now their pulses are at a descent level and they're still unconscious" Mindee explained.

The three girls showed little if not any shock at the presence of the Mutant Zero Jean Grey. Sieg was confused by this and stayed with them while Hank and Dani guided the woman inside.

"Yes what is it?" The three girls asked.

"Well…um I hope you don't mind me asking but…why aren't you all giddy and shocked over Jean's return?" Sieg asked.

"We don't really get shocked anymore, and besides its Miss Grey, she always comes back" The three girls once again said.

"Okay…could you guys stop doing that, its kinda scary" Sieg said, smiling sheepishly.

"No!" They said and Sieg dropped his head. "Can we ask what troubles you?"

"Well…its just I'm with all these heroes, people I looked up to, I had always seen Jean Grey and Scott Summers as the perfect couple, sure Cyclops may have been stiff but he was a good leader and I looked up to him…but now I feel useless, I mean my powers weren't working earlier and I couldn't move a muscle against this Soldier guy!" Sieg explained.

"Show us" Phoebe said.

Sieg looked at the girls in shock as they began walking up the corridor. Out of pure curiosity he followed the girls to the training room. It was quite similar in layout and appearance to the danger room at the mansion. Sieg stood in the middle with the girls watching from the observation deck.

"Ok, show us what you can do" Celeste said as she pressed a button on the console.

The holographic simulators activated, turning the scenery into a cityscape surrounding. Sieg looked around, the city vaguely resembling a street in Manhattan he used to walk down. Hundreds of people suddenly began swarming past him. The boy shoved through the crowd until he got a good look at what he was up against. They looked like the original five X-men, but they were dressed in pure black clothing and each one of them had red glowing eyes.

"Who are these guys?" Sieg asked.

"We believe they were called Shadow-X" Mindee said.

The team suddenly ran at Sieg, who summoned his sword. He jumped up, landing on his hand and swinging round to land a kick on Angel's chest. Then Sieg back flipped to avoid a punch from Beast, only to be hit by a car that Marvel Girl was controlling with her TK. He skidded across the slippery floor, courtesy of Iceman. Sieg finally managed to jump onto his feet, deflecting an optic blast, which struck the flat end of Sieg's sword and flew straight into Beast. The young rebel hero swung his sword, creating a wave of energy that threw Iceman back. But Cyclops blasted Sieg in the chest, throwing him backwards until he hit the bonnet of a car.

"Damn this things awfully real for a simulation" Sieg said.

"Its strange we expected more of you Siegfried" Mindee said.

"Or should we call you Siegel?" Phoebe asked.

"You hold back your real power out of some misguided sense of respect for your hero, but remember he gave this power to you" Celeste explained.

"Isn't it about time you used it?" the three in one asked.

Sieg shook his head and ran at Shadow X again. He failed to notice Angel above him, who hit him round the back of the head. Dazed, Sieg was kicked across the head by Beast. Cyclops then blasted him in the chest, and Marvel Girl hit him a hundred different ways with her TK. Sieg's sword dropped to the floor as he flew straight into a ice blast from Iceman.

"**Come on Sieg, you have the power, use it!" **Sieg couldn't tell whether the voice he heard was the cuckoos or someone else's. But he knew that he couldn't lose, he had to make himself useful.

The members of Shadow-X and the Stepford Cuckoos looked in shock as the diamond that Sieg was in cased in began to shine. In an incredible explosion of light, the diamond blew up. Sieg stood amongst the remains, engulfed in an incredible aura of sparkling blue flame. His skin and hair changed to a blue colour as his hair spiked upwards. Then his pupils disappeared and his muscles expanded only slightly. In an amazing burst of speed, Sieg punched Iceman across the face, and then kneed Beast in the chest, knocking both of them out. He then head butted Angel and darted towards Cyclops, blocking an optic blast before delivering a devastating uppercut. Sieg yelled as he flew at Marvel Girl, punching her across the face and sending her flying into a building beside her. If the Cuckoos had emotion they would have had surprised expressions across their faces as Sieg stood in the middle of the danger room, growling uncontrollably as pieces of metallic armour covered his cheeks and elbows.

Sieg dropped to his knees, pounding his fists on the floor, cracking the armour that was covering his hands. He raised his fist once more until one of the Celeste gripped his wrist. The armour that would have covered Sieg's head shattered into pieces and the boy's hair and skin changed back to normal. He turned his head to the Cuckoos, who looked at him with neutral expressions on their faces.

"Do you mind me asking, why are you guys so emotionless?" Sieg asked.

"Our diamonds hearts contain a fragment of the Phoenix, with the fragments trapped in our hearts we are unable to feel emotion…if we had it we'd probably cry" The Cuckoos explained.

Sieg widened his eyes in shock, seeing that the girls were completely serious. He got off his knees and looked at the three girls. They raised their eyebrows only slightly as tears began falling down Sieg's face. He suddenly leapt forward, embracing the three girls in a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry, I promise you the next time I see the Phoenix I'll find out how to remove those fragments, and then I'll drive them away, that's a promise" Sieg said, wiping his eyes.

"Two illogical promises you cant keep" Phoebe said as Sieg walked back to the centre of the room.

"If I ever did things logically I'd be registered already, could you guys run a program for me, read my mind and you'll know what I want"

The three girls read Sieg's mind, and had they emotions then they would have smiled at the kind of training Sieg was thinking of.

* * *

Slayer sat in the living room, in a meditation pose with his eyes closed. In this state he blocked out all sounds, the bickering of Rockslide and Tattoo, the mild intelligent conversation coming from Logan, Piotr and Kurt and of course he didn't bat and eyelash even with Pixie flying around him. Cut off from the rest of the conscious world Slayer consciousness dived into a whole different world.

Now Jack Robinson sat in the main hall of a great temple, mosaic art of magnificent battles were beneath him while the statues of great warriors were around him. In front of him however was a figure dressed in armour similar to his. This warrior was a very bulky man, who would have stood at least nine feet. His head was covered by the darkness of a samurai helm.

"Yoshinto-sensei!" Jack said, bowing his head in respect.

The warrior spirit Yoshinto returned the bow.

"Jack…I have been expecting you ever since I felt the Phoenix appear" Yoshinto said, his voice calm and even, yet great and imposing at the same time.

"Do you know anything of how this has happened?" Jack asked his master.

"No, though I do have several theories, most of them revolve around Jean losing her control as the phoenix of the crown"

"And what about the masked Phoenix's plans, could he really destroy this reality?"

"Again I do not know for certain but I have theories, heart of reality must mean an object of considerable power with a connection to the Phoenix, even with the divine power they wield the corps do not have the strength to destroy this object, I sensed much sorrow inside this Black Phoenix, he seeks to destroy this object instead of triggering super novas throughout the universe, something which would be much easier for him" Yoshinto explained.

"If triggering super novas is so easy why is he insisting on the harder way?" Jack asked.

"I do not know…that is not all you wished to ask of me is it Jack?"

"No it isn't, I was wondering, this heroes spirit inside Sieg's sword, he entrusted me with united the pieces of Jean Grey, to be truthful I don't know how to do this" Jack said.

"I do have one spell, more of a ritual considering that it has been done affectively with more than one person, it'll bring the fragments of people's souls together, however in order for Mrs Summers to be complete she will need more than her fragments united, she'll need love"

"Well she won't get it from Cyclops" Jack said.

"Hmmm…there is more to Cyclops than meets the eye, I can't quite place my finger on it…anyway you could perform the ritual with the help of the Sorrow Jean and that girl Pixie" Yoshinto said.

"Ah yes, that girl lost a fraction of her soul in order to create her soul dagger and she has a small knowledge on magic, but does she really have what it takes to help me unite the fragments?" Jack asked.

"It is as the heroes spirit said, have faith, in others abilities and in the love that Scott and Jean must share, something is amiss in Frost and Scott's relationship, and you must find out the truth" Yoshinto said.

"Yes sensei!" Jack said as Yoshinto's world disappeared and he opened his eyes.

"BLEAGH!!" Jack yelled, falling back as he saw Rockslide up close and personal.

"Oh good, I thought you'd fallen asleep, this is the last time to be doing that" Santo said.

Jack looked around and saw that a few new faces were here already. He noticed Cannonball and Magma talking with Sunspot and Hellion sitting in the corner. Slayer got off the floor and walked towards Pixie.

"Excuse me Meggan, I was wondering how much do you want to learn about magic?" Slayer asked.

"Well I was thinking of more ways to defend myself ever since I was beaten by that mutant hate group, and more spells would be good, I can only do a teleportation spell but I've been thinking about how cool it would be if a I learned how to blow something up or how to make flowers like in that filler Bleach episode, Dr Strange said he'd teach me magic if I took an oath of silence but I decided he was too much of a stiff for me to do that…."

'I wonder why Strange asked for silence?' Jack thought sarcastically.

* * *

Soldier leant against the wall of the kitchen, ignoring the looks he got from both Dust and X-23.

"I do not mean to be rude but could you please cover that eye, it's intimidating for the others" Sooraya said.

The masked man ignored the Sunni girl while Laura growled.

"Was there something else you wanted to ask me?" Soldier asked.

"Yes I was wondering, when I was little I remember a time when thieves were quite frequent in my town, these weren't petty pickpockets but armed raiders, however these raiders were killed by a man dressed in similar clothes to you, I was wondering whether you were the masked man whom saved my life?"

Soldier paused before he answered with two simple words "My predecessor" he said before he walked out of the room.

He respected Dust's wishes, tearing off one of the cloths hanging off his belt and wrapping it around the side of his head. Soldier walked through the corridors of the Graymalkin building, as usual ignoring the looks he received from the other X-men. He was a black ops member and an agent of the Initiative so of course the X-men would be slightly nervous around him. The masked man stopped just a few inches from Slayer.

"Let me ask you, why do you wear that mask?" Jack asked.

"The same reason others do, to hide" Soldier said.

"Hide what, your face, your identity or perhaps your shame"

"We all wear masks, the only question is who are we prepared to let look underneath"

"And judging by your little talk with Frost I can only assume you wont let anyone right?" Jack asked with a smirk, still containing his amusement from how scared Emma had been.

"No one, the same applies to you as well Slayer, you walk a lonely road as I do, with nothing but our memories for company" Soldier said.

"You don't have to sound so depressing, I haven't just got memories, I've got happy memories filled with love and accomplishment, I'm sure you have too" Jack said.

"My memories aren't your business"

"Hey I don't want to get my head blown off I was just sparking a conversation, and asking you, what are you going to do when we reunite Jean?" The warrior asked.

"Reunite, I thought that Miss Grey's mind was merely damaged" Soldier said.

"Her fragments have been separated, once we bring them back together her mind will be healed as well as her emotions and powers"

"Powers, the power of the Phoenix?" Soldier asked.

"The guy in Sieg's sword…sorry the spirit in Sieg's sword told me to reunite the fragments of Jean Grey, I'm not sure what's supposed to happen but my theory is that with the White Phoenix restored then she'll go on to regain control of the Phoenix Corp" Slayer explained.

"Well if your going to do it then I wont stop you" Soldier said.

"Hang on aren't you supposed to be the guy who does his duty?" Jack asked.

"I'm not Stark of Gyrich I can see beyond duty, besides something tells me that allowing Jean to be complete is the right thing" Soldier said, before he walked past Slayer.

With a shrug Jack made his way down to the subbasement. Pixie and Jean waited around the two Phoenix's. With a nod the three of them began drawing out a rune underneath and around the beds that the two Phoenix's slept on. Jean sat in the centre of the rune, in between the two Phoenix's. She sat in a meditation stance while Pixie and Jack sat at the other ends of the room. They put their hands together and began pouring their magical energies into the rune, which glowed with a bright blue light.

Jean's eyes glowed an intense blue colour as she gasped, the magical energies pouring into her body. Pixie was outstanded by the power that she could wield as the entire room was lit up by the runes light. Hank had to close the door because of the lights intensity.

Across the universe, Rachel raised her head towards the direction of the Earth. For a moment her mind was taken away from Korvus's death, and she instead concentrated and smiled knowing that someone had returned. The members of the Corps all began opening their eyes wide as they drew flames from another sun. Their leader, the masked Phoenix calmly opened his eyes, he carried the Blade of the Phoenix and a single flame in both hands.

"**Magic…it isn't enough, for there is no more love to awaken her, Quinton!"** The Black Phoenix said.

With those words the green Phoenix with pink haired flew to his side.

"**Though your power is limited you must go to Earth and take back the fragments, and if possible kill those responsible for all our suffering"** The Black Phoenix ordered and the Quinton obeyed.

As Quinton flew back to egg with several phoenix raptors in tow. The Black Phoenix looked at the blade he carried and then at the small flame that represented every piece of the suns they had taken in the universe.

"**The puzzle is almost complete, a mockery of its power, fractions of its life…soon we will have the power needed to end our suffering"** The Black Phoenix said to himself.** "When we are done, not even the X-men will stop us"**

The Black Phoenix's eyes glowed a red colour as he turned around. In the distance were hundreds of Shiar ships.

**"Why…Why…Why could you not spend your final moments…WITH THE PEOPLE YOU LOVED!!"**

With that roar, flames engulfed the Shiar fleet.

Jean, Jack and Meggan yelled out as they felt the pain of the Shiar troops. They panted and sighed, for the spell didn't work. Jack dropped his head in disappointment, knowing that there was probably no way to unite Jean's fragments and wake them up, short of allowing Cyclops or Frost to touch them. Pixie and Slayer walked up to the main levels of the X-men's base. There they saw many of the X-men already in uniform including Hellion and Blindfold.

"Any luck?" Hank asked.

Jack shook his head and the others dropped theirs in disappointment. Soon after the doors opened again and Sieg walked out, being carried in between Mindee and Phoebe.

"What the hell were you guys doing in the danger room?" Logan asked.

"Training…very hard!" Sieg said with a smile.

"Woo man…looks like you went all Goku!"

The x-men quickly turned around towards the bearer of the voice. He was an average sized man, with brown hair and blue eyes. The man had sharp features along with tanned skin; he wore a pair of jeans with a brown leather jacket worn over a blue shirt.

"James!" Sieg said in shock.

"Better believe it Sieg" James said with a grin.

"How did you get past the alarms?" Emma demanded.

"Hang on a second I keep getting you mixed up…are you big tits McGee or Emma Frost?" James asked, to which Emma growled furiously.

'I think I'm going to like this guy' Jack and Logan thought with a grin.

"I'm a technopath, hence technology isn't really that big a deal for me…anyway I figured with a rather public announcement from the black Phoenix you guys would need some help, and considering the Initiative are pretty much never around when you need them I decided I'd come over and probably get in touch with some of my contacts" James explained.

"And who exactly are these contacts?" Soldier asked suspiciously.

"You'll find out later buddy"

"I'm not your friend"

"Sorry I must have…" But James's words were interrupted when an explosion shook the building.

The X-men and their allies watched, as a gold portal appeared, burning every inch of the living area. Hellion and Slayer combined their powers, covering the team in a barrier of TK and mystical energy as Phoenix fire engulfed the team. They survived, but Hellion was unconscious with a bleeding nose while Slayer was on his knees, just a little tired from shielding the others.

"I am here for the fragments!" The Quinton Quire Phoenix declared.

"If you want Jean then you'll have to go through me bub?" Wolverine growled, popping his claws out.

"I do not speak of the Phoenix of the crown but the other fragments"

"Other fragments" Soldier said curiously.

"Oh shit!" Sieg said as his eyes turned to the Cuckoos.

Sieg then ran ahead of the X-men towards Quinton. If Quinton tore the Phoenix fragments out of the girls hearts then there was a good chance they could get killed, and he wasn't about to let that happen.

Next Chapter 7: The Truth revealed

This is it, the big moment where Slayer's eye finally comes into play and Sieg's faith in the eternal love that Jean and Scott share finally helps the X-men see. The truth behind the psi-affair will be revealed. Some x-men will recover what they lost, or gain something new, while one man will lose everything, yet nothing as he sees what he truly had.

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: i dont own the X-men or Slayer

The truth is finally revealed and it becomes the opening of one epic battle

* * *

The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 7: The Truth revealed

Sieg summoned his sword and slashed at Quentin. With the mans reduced power, Sieg managed to pierce through the aura of flame that Quire had created. He slashed Quentin's shoulder and kicked him across the head. But the green Phoenix thrust his hand forward, batting Sieg away with a wing. Slayer drew his sword and ran at Quentin with Beast, Colossus and Wolverine by his side. Emma put her hands to her head, along with the Cuckoos and James. The psychics lashed out at Quentin telepathically. But their telepathic assaults did nothing to faze Quentin as he swatted his attackers away. Rockslide launched his hands at Quentin, who burnt them to ashes.

"Dumbass!" Anole sighed.

"Homo!" Rockslide snapped back.

"Shut up you two!" Tattoo said as he and Greymalkin ran at Quinton.

"Fools, you cant stop me!" Quentin said calmly as he blasted both Young X-men.

"WE CAN DAMN WELL TRY!!" Sieg yelled as his sword changed into its crystallised form.

The young hero landed in between Quentin and the Cuckoos, holding his sword out in front of him.

"Sieg, that's enough leave it to us" Soldier said as Emma changed into her diamond form and Sunspot into his solar state.

"You know darling guns aren't going to do much against him, its too bad Scott's beams are out of the question"

"I'm not going to let you…HURT THEM!!!" Sieg yelled as he stabbed his sword into the ground.

The hilt of Sieg's blade glowed an intense red colour and Quentin widened his eyes in shock as for a split second the image of a red armoured warrior appeared over Sieg.

"Think very carefully on what you do next Siegfried" Quentin said, motioning to the downed X-men and Slayer behind him.

Sieg widened his eyes and the glow on his sword ceased. The hint of a smile went across Quentin's face before he thrust his hand forward. Out of the phoenix aura stretched a fiery hand, which sped past Sieg's face. Realising that it was heading towards the cuckoos, in a flash Sieg appeared in front of the girls. The hand phased through Sieg's chest and straight into the hearts of the three girls.

"GIRLS!!!" Emma yelled at her cloned daughters as they and Sieg yelled in agony.

Soldier drew his guns and began firing at Quentin. Though they hit his body, the immortal powers of the phoenix merely bought him back to life each time. Sieg grinded his teeth together as he looked behind him, and saw that of all things the three girls were crying.

"**What are you waiting for? Save them!" **He heard in his mind.

Sieg looked to his sword and could have sworn that an armoured man was giving him the thumbs up. He glared at Quentin and yet out a magnificent yell. His hair spiked out in all directions and blue armoured plates began covering his chest as his muscles expanded. Sparks flew as Sieg's pupils disappeared and his eyes went completely red. Veins throbbed on his forehead and arms, his feet floated inches from the floor, which crumbled as energy sparked off his boots. The fiery hands that were inside the Cuckoos hearts began to slowly travel out, each of them holding a tiny flame.

"No, we need more!" Quentin said.

"I DON'T THINK SO!!!" Sieg yelled.

The hand flew out of Sieg's chest, but Sieg wasn't done yet. He snatched the flame that the hand had taken from the sister's chests.

"You went inside these girls bodies, you tried to use them to experience what only humans are meant to experience…you keep coming back…I know you're the phoenix but that sounds annoying" Sieg said.

"Exactly the point I've been getting across" Emma said with a smirk.

Quentin actually began to step back as the bulky Sieg walked towards him, clenching a fist around the phoenix fragment.

"Now beat it!" Sieg growled.

"Go on, stick around…please!" Wolverine said with a smile as he and the other X-men got back up.

"I have a duty to fulfil!" Quentin said.

"Then fulfil your duty!"

The X-men turned around to see not only Jean, but also her other fragments floating before them. Quentin floated backwards at the sight of the three Jean Greys.

"**Fulfil your duty and do as the White Phoenix of the crown tells you, return to the egg and await the eventual return of the corps to the white hot room"** the three Jean's said together.

Quentin nodded his head before he disappeared in a flash or orange. The other X-men sighed in relief, the three Jean's each fell into the arms of Roberto, Bobby and Warren. Sieg's body returned to normal as he fell onto his knees.

"Damn, nice job kid" Logan said, clicking the cricks out of his neck.

"Yeah great work…what exactly did he do apart from look totally badass?" Rockslide asked.

"He woke the rage and love fragments up long enough for them to drive Quinton away, he also did a little something for the Cuckoos" Jack said with a smile.

"Oh my god!" Emma gasped.

Both Mindee and Celeste were crying with joy. They felt hundreds of emotions pour throughout their individual minds, and the two sisters chose to cry knowing that they had what they sacrificed back. Sieg smiled while Emma hugged the two girls.

"Hey wait a minute, where's Phoebe?" Anole asked.

"I'm right here!" Phoebe said, standing over Sieg. "And I'm going to show our hero my appreciation" the girl smiled.

"Oh there's no thanks necessary, right now we need to work on reummmfff…" Sieg was caught back in surprise as Phoebe gripped his hair and pressed her mouth passionately against his.

Sieg was too shocked to even react; he just sat on the ground with his eyes wide open. His skin took on a fierce red colour as Phoebe's mouth separated from his.

"Gratitude, I'd stick to the simple thank you" Mindee said.

"Oh please, I could top that!" Celeste said.

The young X-men widened their eyes in disbelief as Celeste kneeled down and dived her tongue down Sieg's throat. Cyclops shook his head while Emma and Slayer grinned.

"Despite your taste I'm quite proud of you girls" Emma giggled.

"Yeah, who knew you'd reduce a being as powerful as the phoenix to…well how would you describe that James?" Slayer asked the man beside him.

"Lets see…a simple term would be shocked but for a Naïve boy like Siegfried I'd class it as red as a tomato on the verge of exploding" James said with a grin.

Celeste drew her tongue out of Sieg's mouth, and smiled sweetly as Sieg fell to the floor.

"You know now that I think about it, he's actually kind of cute" Mindee said to which the other X-men plus Slayer and James burst into laughter.

* * *

Burn to ashes, that was the fate of any that stood in the Phoenix's way. The Black Phoenix faced the entire Shiar fleet alone. With simple waves of his hand he crushed the greatest ships in the fleet, while his flames melted others. Vulcan, the emperor of the Shiar watched from his flagship in utter shock at the Phoenix's power. The third Summers brother was arrogant enough to think that something as simple as a fleet of ships could destroy the Phoenix.

"**Gabriel Summers!" **The Black Phoenix called as he flew past the wreckage of Shiar ships.

Vulcan narrowed his eyes in anger as the masked phoenix approached the bridge of his ship. Despite the pilot's best efforts, the ship wouldn't move.

"**You are so full of hatred, you're a very pitiful man!" **The Black Phoenix said as he phased into the ship.

"GO TO HELL!!" Vulcan yelled, unleashing an energy blast on the masked man.

As soon as the blast struck the Phoenix, everything disappeared and went white. Vulcan soon found himself on the surface of a lush and green field. He looked around, seeing no trace of the Shiar. Instead he saw Polaris, Havok and the rest of the Starjammers, all confused until they laid eyes on the emperor. Vulcan powered up, ready to kill his brother once and for all. But he stopped when he saw the fearful look on the heroes' faces. He slowly turned around and gasped.

"**Even now with your army destroyed, your empire ripe for Lilandra's picking and your wife dead with the ships, you choose to hate, how pathetic!" **The Black Phoenix said, looking down at Gabriel as if he was a child.

"What did you say?" Vulcan asked in a furious rage.

**"Beyond omega, yet not beyond pettiness"**

"You don't know what I've been through, you've no right to judge"

**"I know what you have been through, and frankly I don't see what justifies your actions…Naïve true but that doesn't mean I'm not right. You have been overcome by hate, but in order for you to spend the remaining days of your life in happiness, I will erase that hate!"**

"No stay away!" Vulcan growled.

Alex and the other Starjammers watched in shock as the Black phoenix engulfed Vulcan in his flames. The third Summers brother yelled in agony as the fires burnt his skin and consumed his form. As the Phoenix turned his attention to the Starjammers his wings disappeared, revealing a brown haired boy, no older than fourteen, wearing a white shirt.

"**Give him a new start, love him as he deserves to be loved, be his brother Alex Summers!" **The Black Phoenix said firmly.

Havok couldn't help but nod in the presence of this all-powerful force. The Black Phoenix nodded as he began floating up into the air.

"**You are currently in Manhattan, go to San Francisco and rejoin the X-men" **The Phoenix ordered as it floated upwards into the air.

Havok didn't know what this Phoenix wanted, but he knew it wouldn't end well for humanity if it were allowed to fulfil its plans. But right now Alex's eyes turned to the confused boy that had replaced Vulcan.

"Alex, what are you doing?" Lorna asked.

"Giving him a new start" Alex said over his shoulder before he continued walking towards Gabriel.

Gabriel nervously stepped back as Alex knelt down beside him.

"Gabriel do you remember anything?" Alex asked the boy.

"I remember a cruel man, and a bird…who are you?" The boy asked innocently.

"I'm Alex, your brother Gabriel, let me tell you about our father and our brother…and the rest of our family" Alex said, motioning to the Starjammers behind him.

Gabriel blinked at the unique people behind his brother, he thought Polaris looked normal enough, in fact he thought she was an angel, but he found Ch'od's lizard appearance quite scary as well as the cyborg Raza.

"My family…is kinda weird" Gabriel said sheepishly.

At first Alex looked at the boy in shock, before he burst in laughter and hugged the boy.

"I think that's the greatest term for describing our family" Alex chuckled as he squeezed his baby brother tight.

Gabriel, at first shocked by Alex's gesture but returned it as he hugged his brother.

"What happened, I remember being in prison and then I saw this white light" Ch'od said.

"The Phoenix must have teleported us off the planet and onto Earth, I think this black phoenix wants us to spend out last moments on the earth, of course we're not going to do that, we'll go join up with the X-men and see what they have planned" Polaris explained and the rest of the Starjammers nodded their heads.

* * *

It was another long training session and Sieg once again fell to his knees. He huffed and puffed as sweat ran down the side of his head. Celeste watched the boy from the training rooms control area. She deactivated the simulator and headed down to the training level.

"You know you could try resting" Celeste suggested.

"I don't think so" Sieg said as he got up off the floor, wiping the sweat off his face.

"Don't get me wrong I think it's amazing, but why exactly are you so determined?" Celeste asked.

Sieg paused for a moment before making his sword disappear.

"I knew a guy, not many people knew him but I'd say he was one of the best men there were, his example taught me to never give up even when things were hopeless, he taught me that even when you get knocked down, if you can then get back up and try again…and above all else never run away from the right thing" Sieg explained, looking at Celeste with strong and determined eyes.

"Ah yes your hero, I'm probably the last person who should be saying this but I think if he saw you now he'd be proud of you" Celeste said and Sieg nodded his head.

A smile crept across Celeste's face as she took a few steps towards Sieg. He stiffened nervously as Celeste gripped his top and pulled it off, revealing his well-toned chest and sweat stained shirt underneath his hoody.

"Celeste what are you doing?" Sieg asked.

Celeste merely smiled as she dropped into a fighting stance and beckoned Sieg to come at her. Sieg smiled before he too dropped into a stance and ran at the stepford cuckoo.

* * *

"Okay here's my theory" Jack began, standing in the medical bay with Dani, Kurt, Pixie and Beast around the three Jeans. "Since this phoenix flame came from three people, the cuckoos, then we'd be able to separate this flame and put them inside the hearts of these three Jeans, this will trigger a chain reaction with the unification rune I placed here earlier, drawing the three flames and in turn the bodies that they reside in together" the warrior explained.

"Um, how do we know this wont mangle them together?" Pixie asked sheepishly.

"This is magic Meggan not science" Kurt said and Jack nodded his head with a sheepish smile.

'Damn…I never actually thought of that' Jack thought.

"So why don't we get started?" Hank asked.

Slayer walked in between the sleeping Jeans and first pressed his hand into the White Phoenix's chest. She stirred in her sleep as the single spark entered her heart, Jack then moved to the Dark Phoenix, taking care not to wake her. The anger side of Jean aggressively slapped at Jacks hand in her sleep before she peacefully relaxed. Slayer sighed before moving onto Mutant Zero, he used both his hands to push the third spark into Jean's chest.

"Ok Pixie go ahead" Slayer said and Meggan nodded her head eagerly.

She clapped her hands together and pressed them against the rune that had been drawn out in the centre of the room. The rune began to glow and the other X-men tensed as its glow intensified. Suddenly each of the Jean's began floating in midair, their eyes glowing with the flames of the phoenix. The three bodies began floating towards one another, the three of them glowing a gold colour as their bodies began to merge. Their golden glow intensified, practically blinding the inhabitants of the room.

"Somebody get me a visor" Dani said.

"Its working, the rage, love and sorrow fragments have merged into a single being" Slayer said, glad that his theory had actually been proven to be correct.

"Woah, I can actually feel the Phoenix's power, it feels so good" Kurt said in awe.

Suddenly the flames of the phoenix swept across the room. Slayer put his hands to his face in a bid to protect himself from the flames, but much to his shock the flames didn't burn. He turned to the X-men behind him and widened his eyes. The flames disappeared and Jean, dressed in the Mutant Zero gear floated onto the bed peacefully. She stirred as she woke up and turned her head to the people in the room. Surprisingly they were no longer watching her; instead they were watching Hank.

"What, have I got something on my face?" Hank asked.

"Something like that" Dani said nervously while Slayer grinned.

Hank felt his back, surprised at the fact that it was slightly hunched. He also noticed he seemed a bit shorter than he remembered. Beast looked down at his feet and gasped, they were still blue and furry, but they were no longer paws but proper feet though abnormally large, then he looked at his hands and noticed they were less furry.

"It looks like he's back" Jean said with a smile.

Beast looked at himself in the mirror and a small smile crossed his face. No longer did he have his cat like appearance, now he was returned to what he originally was.

"The Bouncing Beast!" Slayer said.

"I feel strange" Dani said.

"Wait a second, my wounds are healed" Slayer said, just noticing that some of the cuts and bruises he had claimed from his fight with Soldier were gone. "Dani, I think this strange feeling of yours is your mutation, I think you've got your powers back, that wave that the Phoenix unleashed gave off a healing affect, for Beast it turned him back into the form we all love, for me it healed the cuts I got from Soldier and with you Dani it restored your X-gene" Jack explained.

"I think it has" Dani said eagerly.

"Well I suppose there's only one way to find out, a trip to zhe danger room perhaps" Kurt said.

"I think I'll need a trip there too" Beast said.

Jack grinned as the others in the room looked up to see Beast clinging to the wall. The group left the medical room, each one of them feeling as if they had just recovered something they lost. But Slayer sensed conflicted emotions from Jean, and he understood her feelings, she had returned to a world that had moved without her. He decided that he would go with her to the top while Kurt, Dani, Hank and Meggan walked into the danger room.

"Ah Celeste, its good to see you improving your martial arts skills" Hank said as the four of them entered the room.

Celeste turned her attention to Hank just as she swung her leg at Sieg, who smacked the leg back with his arm. The girl stumbled forwards, tripping Sieg over onto his back. Blush crept across Sieg's face as the X-men crossed their arms together, looking at the two teens on top of one another.

"Tell me Celeste, has Emma given you the talk yet?" Beast asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, she even gave me a few tips" Celeste said with a smile as she wrapped her arms around Sieg's neck.

"Um…I think we should get back to training" Sieg said.

"Says you!" Celeste giggled.

Sieg gulped, and much to the X-men's shock the two of them disappeared in a flash of red light.

"Ok, that might not be too good" Hank said and Kurt and Dani shook their heads at the mans comments.

Kurt immediately ported up to the top levels, enveloping the living area in purple smoke. Wolverine and X-23 coughed as the smoke began to rise up.

"God damn it elf, I didn't think you could leave that much of a stench" Logan said.

"Sorry Mein Freund, its just, Dani and Hank and I went to the danger room, we were teasing Sieg and Celeste and then they just suddenly disappeared" Kurt explained.

"What!" Logan said, getting off his chair, while Laura was only mildly interested.

Wolverine sniffed the air and growled in frustration.

"Damn it, I can't pick up their scent" He said.

Suddenly Mindee and Phoebe rushed into the room, followed by Emma and Cyclops.

"Celeste, we can't feel her" The two sisters said.

"I can't detect her anywhere, Sieg either" Emma said, more concerned for her cloned daughter than the young hero.

"What's going on?" Roberto asked, rushing into the room with the new arrivals Surge, Gentle and Elixir.

Jean walked into the room with Slayer, both of their eyes shining with concerned looks on their faces.

"We can't feel them either" Jean said.

"It's almost as if they've completely dived off the map" Slayer said, putting a hand to his chin as his eye stopped shining.

Dani and Hank walked into the room while Meggan flew him. The Welsh girl immediately flew towards her old classmates to hug them, though they, like the X-men were too shocked over Hank's new, or rather old appearance. Beast merely grinned as he brushed them off and walked towards Emma.

"Emma, have you been able to detect Sieg and Celeste?" He asked.

Emma merely stood there with her mouth open, and Hank took that as his answer. Storm, Dazzler and Angel soon walked into the room, joining Emma in shock. Soldier also ran into the room, covering his left eye, before he dropped his hand to look at Beast. He looked over Hank's appearance, up and down before shrugging his shoulders.

"Good, I preferred the ape!" he said and Slayer couldn't help but laugh at the mans reaction.

"Though I would have preferred to be missing the fur, I must say it feels quite good to be back in my second form…but alas I'm afraid we must turn our attention to locating young Siegfried and Celeste, Emma, you and the girls should use Cerebra to search the planet and quite possibly the galaxy"

Emma nodded her head as she; Celeste and Mindee marched towards the lower levels. Jean considered joining them, but then turned her eyes to Cyclops, who avoided eye contact.

"Slayer, could you please try focusing your eye more to find them?" Hank asked.

The warrior shook his head "I could try a mass sweep but in all honesty I don't think it would do any good Hank, I'd only be tiring myself out, if the other cuckoos couldn't feel their sister then its most likely they've transcended to another plane of existence" Jack explained.

"What did he just say?" Meggan asked Surge, who shook her head.

Soldier walked up to Slayer, grabbing his collar and looking at him eye to eye.

"Then use your eye to search these other plains of existence" he said forcefully.

"Listen Soldier, I know you might be concerned for their well being, but in all honesty I think all the concern is wasted, I have a good feeling on where they are right now" Slayer said.

Soldier frowned before letting go of the warrior and marching off. Jean looked to Scott, who was already walking out of the room. She followed her husband, putting her hands together as they walked into Scott's bedroom. Jean took note of the double bed and knew for sure that Scott must have truly moved on from her. But she still held hope as she walked up to Scott, laying her hands on his shoulders.

"A lot of things have happened Jean" Scott began, swinging round and placing his hands on Jean's cheeks. "When you died a part of me shut down, if not for Emma then I don't know what would have happened to me" the leader of the X-men said, and Jean detected thoughts of the moment he had shared with Emma in front of her gravestone.

"It was because of me" Jean blurted out and Scott looked at her in confusion. "You see, I rose again, in a future that wasn't worth living in…and so when I was in the white hot room, I dived into your mind at that moment, and I pushed you towards her, I forced you into loving her!" Jean said with tears in her eyes.

Scott looked at his wife in pure shock, taking his hands off her before he spoke.

"Whatever happened in the past is in the past, Jean…I love Emma now" those words sliced into Jean's heart as she let the tears flow down her face. "Now that I'll always care about you Jean, but I'm afraid I just don't love you anymore" Scott said sincerely as he walked out of the room.

Jean burst into tears, banging the wall as she cried. Storm and Angel passed the room and heard her moan in sorrow. Warren walked into the room, seeing the woman he had once been attracted to crying without anyone to comfort her. He hugged the woman, wrapping his wings around her form while Ororo looked on, feeling pity for the woman that been like a sister to her.

"Wow…this looks familiar" Warren said, he couldn't help but feel nostalgia for the situation.

Jean wiped her eyes as she spoke "Yeah, except this time he isn't married and doesn't have a child" She said.

"Jean, every time you die it tears us apart, no every time any team mate dies it affects us but you Jean, your our spirit and our heart" Storm said.

"Yes but…it seems I'm no longer needed in the team"

"Don't be foolish!" A stern voice said from behind Storm.

The three mutants turned around to see Soldier, holding Jean's mutant Zero helmet with an emotion in his eye that Jean had never seen before.

"There is no such thing as no longer needed, you are precious Jean, if not to Scott then to your other team mates, you are not precious as Marvel Girl the X-woman or the Phoenix of the white crown, but as Jean Grey the person" Soldier explained, throwing the Mutant Zero helmet aside. "You have people who love you, return to them as Jean Grey, Stark will understand that he's lost his mutant zero"

"I can understand your words Soldier, but I just cant believe in them" Jean said as she walked past Soldier and picked up the Zero helmet.

"I'm no longer an X-woman, I'm just Mutant Zero!" Jean said as she put the helmet on.

"We are who we choose to be Jean, but you can't make the choice on your own until we reunite you with joy" Soldier said, but Jean ignored him and walked away.

"What ever happened to the bad ass masked man?" Warren asked.

"Sometimes my orders don't involve the right thing, and sometimes the right thing is more important" Soldier said before he walked after Jean.

* * *

Once minute Sieg was in the danger room, just inches from meeting Celeste's tongue. Now he and the cuckoo were in a white void, and area outside of their reality. Celeste looked around the endless whiteness before turning her attention to Sieg.

"Well I did want some alone time, but this is just too much" Celeste said.

"This has got to be some kind of joke" Sieg said to himself.

"Where exactly are we?" Celeste asked.

"Well, this is kind of like the inside of my sword, you see it has a degree of sentience because inside it lies the spirit of a hero, and this is where my hero watches me…but where could he be?" Sieg wondered.

"Why would he bring us here?" Celeste asked.

"Well…um how do I say this, he only really brings me here when he wants to impart words of wisdom, or when I need to be encouraged, I once escaped the Mighty Avengers thanks to his words" Sieg explained.

"Honey…now's the worst time to be talking about your experiences with other heroes" Celeste said, placing a hand on Sieg's chest.

"Sorry Celeste, maybe he bought me here to tell me something about the phoenix" Sieg said, his heart skipped a beat as Celeste called him honey.

"Or maybe he bought you here to think, I mean you've been training non stop, you need to find some other way to relieve your stress" Celeste said, placing another hand on Sieg's chest.

"Uuuh maybe we should wait for him to show up" Sieg said nervously, taking a few steps away from the girl.

Celeste didn't give up easy as she walked up to Sieg, again wrapping her arms around his neck. She bought her face closer to his, smiling as he blushed.

"I've seen inside your mind, out of all the thoughts in your head there was one thing that caught my attention" Celeste said. "I must protect them and my personal favourite, is this really happening? Celeste's cute but I don't think we'd be right for one another…guess what Siegfried, you don't have to be right for each other to be in love" she whispered.

The girl softly pressed her lips against Sieg's, who widened his eyes in shock before closing them. His blush disappeared and he wrapped his arms around Celeste's waist. She moaned as Sieg deepened the kiss, moving his hands up her back while she gripped his hair tightly.

**"I expected you guys to be at least an hour before you started making out"**

Blush crept across Sieg's face as he quickly separated from Celeste and turned his attention to the armoured warrior who had just appeared. Vein's throbbed on Sieg's forehead as looked at the warrior with his arms crossed.

"You…WHAT THE HELL IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF A JOKE!!" Sieg yelled in embarrassment.

**"You know saying that isn't as affective when you've just enjoyed the kiss"**

"He's right you know" Celeste giggled as Sieg crouched on the floor and moaned.

"**Jokes aside I bought you here for something serious Sieg" **The hero said as he walked around Sieg and Celeste. **"I tasked you with helping Slayer find the truth and what have you been doing, training and making out with girls, granted you've given the sisters something back you've got to play your part" **He explained and Sieg looked at him in confusion.

**"I cant spell it out for you Sieg, if you truly want to be a hero, if you want to truly accomplish something then figure it out, have faith that your hero will forever be your hero, have faith that he would never cross certain lines, have faith that the love between two people will never die. More importantly when the time comes, never look back or regret your choice, believe in both your own power and your choice"**

Sieg stood where he was, thinking about what the hero had told him. Then realisation hit him. Never cross certain lines, meaning that Cyclops must have never done certain things. Have Faith that the love between two people will never die. He tried to remember what Cyclops had said to him, and then he remembered.

_"The way I see it this whole thing started because Jean can't stay dead"_

"_If you had let me finish…" Cyclops began casually, "Jean isn't coming back, she'll just die again and rise again then die again, Emma sticks around and I love her, I respect Jean but I love Emma!" he said in a serious tone, looking at the woman that had once been his wife._

_Scott walked into the bedroom and to Emma's side. He laid a hand on her shoulder and kissed her diamond skin._

"_That woman…Jean, she always comes back!" Emma whispered as she changed her form back to skin._

_The woman swung around, wrapping her arms around Scott's neck, while Scott placed one hand on her waist and the other on her shoulder._

"_Emma, no matter what happens nothing changes all right, I still meant what I said on break world" Scott said._

_Emma smiled before brushing her lips against Scott's._

"THAT'S IT!!" Sieg yelled, causing Celeste to jump in shock.

**"That's more like it Siegfried, have Faith in your heroes and faith in yourself, now return to your world and find out the truth"** The hero said.

Sieg nodded his head in agreement before he closed his eyes. One moment his crystallised sword appeared in his hands before it shattered. Red crystal guards covered Sieg's shoulders, waist and Shins. Then blue and grey armour covered his chest, legs and arms and a black fabric covered his hands. His eyes shined for a moment before a diamond shaped helmet covered his head.

**"I'll keep moving forward without regret, Celeste"** Sieg said, picking the girl up bridal style.

Siegfried, or rather Victory Peace turned to his hero and gave him a nod of respect. The grey and red armoured warrior retracted his faceplate, revealing dull grey eyes but a grin so full of life that Sieg rushed forward, flying past the young man, all the while smiling underneath his mask.

**"Don't regret Sieg, mourn but never regret, do that and you wont be the hero that people want, rather the hero they need, joy is on her way along with her guardian"** The hero said with a smile as somewhere far away a former tough guy turned baby sitter sneezed.

Sieg and Celeste appeared in the middle of the living room, just as Soldier caught up with Jean. The other X-men looked at Sieg in shock as his faceplate retracted, revealing a stern expression.

"Where's Cyclops?" He asked Slayer.

"Why do you need to know?" Jack asked.

"Because its time we found out the truth" Sieg said.

Slayer nodded his head and walked with Sieg towards the kitchen, Soldier and Jean following close behind. Cyclops had just finished pouring himself some coffee, when he saw Sieg walking towards him.

"Sieg, where have you and…" But Cyclops could not finish his question, as Sieg punched him straight in the stomach.

"Sieg what are you doing?" Jean asked in shock, throwing her helmet off.

Soldier grabbed Jean's shoulder firmly, looking at Scott suspiciously as the rest of the X-men and their guests showed up. Elixir and Emma walked up to a kneeling Scott while Rockslide and Tattoo moved aggressively towards Sieg.

"What is the meaning of this Sieg?" Emma asked, glaring at the boy.

"That punch should have shattered the mans ribs, but they didn't" Sieg said, narrowing his eyes at Scott.

"You didn't shatter them, you cracked them!" Elixir said, putting his hand to Cyclops's chest in order to heal the bruise.

"They didn't even do that" Sieg snapped back.

"What the hell do you think your doing Sieg?" Wolverine asked.

"I expected better from you Herr Sieg" Kurt said.

"Damn it! Don't you people see what's in front of you, the guy's clearly milking it, just like he milked that hit from the Black Phoenix's optic blast, he must have changed the shape of his ribs or something"

"What exactly are you talking about boy?" Domino asked.

"It never occurred to be before, but then I got thinking, about what Cyclops's had said to me earlier about all the things that had happened, letting everybody from the institute that was depowered go, not batting an eyelash over Emma's schemes, doubting himself. At first I thought it was just a change he had gone through because of Jean's death but then it occurred to me, the affair, would Scott Summers really have had an affair with Emma Frost, a former enemy, would he have talked to his problems to her over his wife when they've known each other for most of their young and adult lives and love each other very much, you might say yes…BUT I SAY HELL NO!!!" Sieg roared.

While some looked at Sieg the way they would look at a mental patient, some such as Slayer, Wolverine, Soldier and Storm began to see where he was getting at. Conflicted thoughts went through Jean's head while Emma stood her ground, ready to defend her lovers actions.

"He was doubting himself, he was a changed man after he had been separated from apocalypse" Emma said.

"She's right, besides I felt something with Emma, a young person like you couldn't possibly understand love" Cyclops said.

"No, I think that Sieg has been getting across a good point" Slayer said, stepping in between Emma and Sieg.

"Da, indeed he is beginning to make sense" Colossus said and Kurt nodded his head in agreement.

"I think he's just gone crazy" Hellion said.

"Not that I don't agree but who asked you Keller?" Surge asked, glaring at Hellion.

"Even if he is crazy it doesn't mean he isn't right" Slayer said grinning, knowing the amount of times people had called him crazy when he'd been right.

"He's wrong because I'm a telepath dear, I can read minds you idiots" Emma growled.

Colossus and Nightcrawler almost crept back in fear under the woman's gaze while Sieg stood his ground.

"She's right, I pushed Emma to be with Scott, please Sieg don't embarrass yourself anymore just give it up" Jean said.

"GOD DAMN IT THERE ARE WAYS TO GET AROUND TELEPATHY!!!!" Sieg yelled.

"Oh please, nothing could be…what's that stupid song going through your head?" Mindee asked Soldier.

"A way of getting round telepathy, and you'll have to figure out the song for yourself" The masked man said, taking Slayer and Sieg's side. "Mental blocks, replacing surface thoughts, repressing memories and meditation techniques, these are some of many ways to fool telepathy…of course there's also telepathy itself" Soldier said, narrowing his eye in Cyclops direction.

"I don't get it, what are you saying that this guy in front of us isn't Mr Summers?" Armour asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying" Sieg growled.

"This sounds like a good theory but there's not much proof to back it up" Hank said.

"What about what he said about Jean?" Sieg asked.

"What did he say about Jean?" Ororo asked.

"He basically said that he was getting tired of Jean coming back" Sieg said.

"What…when did he say that?" Colossus asked.

"On the jet, in front of all of you" Slayer said.

The other X-men had confused looks on their faces while Soldier and James kept a suspicious gaze on Cyclops.

"What exactly are you generating Summers, if that is your name" James said, a rare frown on his face.

"Not you too" Cyclops growled, shaking his head at the four men.

"This guy, he isn't Scott Summers…HE'S A SKRULL!!" Sieg yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Cyclops.

"Scott would never have had an affair with Frost, even if he was changed after Apocalypse the love between him and Jean is too strong" Slayer said.

"It's possible that Summers was replaced before he returned to the mansion" Soldier said.

"The Skrulls did evolve apparently, what's to say they couldn't get past the cosmic knowledge of the Phoenix" James put in his two cense.

"Don't listen to them, they've obviously gone insane" Cyclops said.

Sieg glared at Cyclops before he turned his attention to Slayer.

"Jack Robinson…I think its time you used that eye to see the truth" He said.

Slayer nodded his head as he walked forwards, his eye giving off a red glow like the armour of Sieg's hero. Iceman, Hellion, Surge and X-force stepped in front of Slayer's path, not trusting where he was going with this.

"Look if you want to know the truth then let me do what I have to do" Slayer said.

"Don't believe him, for all we know he could be trying to kill us off" Cyclops said.

Soldier and James furthered their suspicious brows as they looked at Cyclops visor. The masked man raised his head, drawing his pistols.

"I don't think its just telepathy…I think he's using hypnotic suggestion" Soldier said.

"NORIKO IMMOBILISE THEM NOW!!" Cyclops yelled.

Surge thrust her hand forward, throwing a flurry of electricity at Slayer. But much to her shock the lighting was drawn into the palm of James's hand. With a smile James launched two electrical blasts from his middle and index finger, throwing Domino and X-23 back. Soldier rushed forward, slamming his shield into Warpath's chest, pushing him back. Sieg flew forward, clothes lining Bobby and Julian, with one blow both X-men were on the floor groaning.

"Stay back!" Emma growled.

Slayer held onto Emma's shoulder and with one motion of his hand Emma was thrown aside like a rag doll. The warrior gripped Cyclops shoulders and the glow on his eye intensified. Cyclops, pulled on Slayer's head as he felt some force diving into his memories.

"You're resisting, why would you resist if you didn't have anything to hide?" Slayer asked, more to himself than Scott.

"GET OUT!!!" Cyclops yelled.

Cyclops fired his optics right in Jack's face. The warrior used the mystical energy he had recovered from the Phoenix to cover both him and Cyclops in a barrier. Mystical energy protected Jack's face, but the heat from the beams began to melt his armour. Slayer and Cyclops growled at one another, and slowly Cyclops strength began to increase as he pulled Slayer's head back further.

"Look into my eye!" Slayer began, pushing his face towards Cyclops, who actually ripped a chunk of his hair out. "Look into the eye that sees no lies!" He growled as his vision began to blur. "Look into the eye and reveal the truth! Look into the eye and reveal…YOUR TRUE FORM!!!!" Slayer roared.

A magnificent light enveloped the room and Jack saw everything. His vision became clear and he saw. He saw Cyclops, alone for just a moment, and taken. Jack saw the experiences that this impostor had, he felt the enjoyment as he deceived the X-men, watched the avatar of the Phoenix die, and made love to Emma. Slayer growled as he felt his vision blur. The light that covered the room disappeared and Jack fell to the floor, sweat running down his face, worn out from using both his eye and his mystical energy.

The X-men gasped at what they looked upon. No longer was it Cyclops standing before them but a Skrull. He was taller and bulkier that the average Skrull so that obviously meant he had been augmented, his eyes were glowing red with anger as he looked down at the warn out Slayer.

"JACK GET OUT OF THERE!!!" Sieg yelled.

"YOU…YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!!!" The Skrull roared as he thrust his hand forward.

"Oh shit this is gonna HUAAAAARGH!!!!" Jack yelled as a force blast identical to the Third Thunderbird blew him through a wall.

"JACK!" Sieg snarled as he turned his attention to the Skrull.

The Skrulls purple and black costume began to change shape. His boots took on the form of Wolverine's, while the asgardian symbol that normally covered Thor's chest spread across his, organic steel covered his exposed head and arms while his eyes took on a fierce red glow as electricity crackled around him and fire enveloped his right hand. Sieg snarled and his face took on a blue colour, his pupils disappeared and his hair spiked out in all directions. The X-men joined his aggressive stance, and so did Jean.

"Tell me…WHERE MY HUSBAND IS!!!" She screamed, her eyes taking on a fierce orange glow as she drew her blades.

"Bub you'd better answer the ladies question" Wolverine growled. "Ah screw it, we're so pissed off that we'd rather beat the answer out of you, X-men…"

"KICK HIS ASS!" Hellion took the words right out of Wolverine's mouth as the X-men, Soldier, James and Victory Peace charged towards the Skrull.

Across the galaxy, a masked man smiled as he and his army landed on a Barron planet.

**"Finally…they see the truth in front of them"** The Black Phoenix said with a sigh of relief.

Next Chapter 8: The team united

X-force, The Astonishing, Uncanny and Young X-men take their fight with the Super Skrull through the streets of San Fran, to the Golden gate bridge in a moment inspired by Greg Land's Uncanny X-men #500 cover. Slayer isn't out of the fight yet as he goes all out against remnants of the Skrull invasion in an effort to rescue the true Scott Summers, but he isn't alone.

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and dont worry I havent forgotten about the Phoenix corps threat


	8. Chapter 8

I dont own the X-men or Slayer, I do however own the Black Phoenix, Sieg, Soldier and James

* * *

The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 8: The team united

The X-men lunged at the Skrull. Nightcrawler grabbed his shoulder, and the whole team, excluding Elixir, Blindfold and the Cuckoos grabbed Kurt's shoulders as he teleported. They reappeared in the middle of the city, catching the attention of all civilians passing by. The Skrull glared at the X-men as they jumped on top of him. His body erupted in a white pulse similar to Havok's, throwing the team off of him. Gentle and Rockslide ran at the Skrull, both of them delivering an incredible uppercut to his chin. The Skrull shot Gentle in the chest with his optic ray and grabbed Rockslide by the head, crumbling it to pieces.

"SANTO!!" Cessily screamed.

Mercury slashed the Skrull across the chest and Dani hit him from behind with a psionic arrow. The Skrull clutched his head as he was haunted by visions of the Kill Krew slaughtering his kind. This gave Colossus enough time to punch the Skrull across the cheek. Then Colossus swung his fist back,, punching the Skrull in the chest and sending him stumbling back. Domino and Soldier unleashed a barrage of bullets on the Skrull, who growled in annoyance at their defiance. Sunspot skidded across the floor, knocking the Skrull to his knees. Thunder crackled around the Skrull as he knocked Sunspot away and shocked Wolfsbane and Mercury. Then the Skrull stretched his arm out like Mr Fantastic, grabbing Wolverine by his head and swinging him around, before throwing him straight through a building.

"You Bastard!" Emma snarled as she ran at the Skrull.

In her diamond form, Emma swung her fist at the Skrull. But the punch didn't even make the Skrull flinch as he grabbed the diamond woman by her neck, lifting her off the floor.

"Foolish woman, you actually thought that Summers fell for you, humans are a pathetic breed but some of them surprise me like that Summers character, believe me when I say he never would have fallen in love with a woman like you" The Skrull said truthfully but sadistically as he deactivated his organic metal.

Suddenly a blade tore through the Skrulls chest. The Skrull let go of Emma, who used this moment of weakness to punch the Skrull, sending him stumbling back. Jean and Emma stood side-by-side and nodded to each other, both willing to put their rivalry aside in order to punish the alien who had mimicked the man they loved.

"Well well well, two Earth women united, I must say there was a certain quality about your kind that I found intriguing, you're much better than any of the Skrull women back home" The Skrull said with a grin across his face as he brushed a hand across his chin, practically admiring the two women.

Emma and Jean merely glared as they ran forward. The Skrull unleash a flurry of fire balls on the women. But Emma stood in front of Jean, her diamond form taking the flames for Jean. The Wife of Scott Summers slid out her wrist blades and swung them at the Skrull, who dodged the swipe by bending his body. He then changed his arm into the Thing's hand, smashing Emma across the face. Jean's eyes glowed an intense red colour as she continued to slash at the Skrull, who dodged each swipe with quickness comparable to speedsters. The Skrull howled in pain as Magma and Surge struck him from behind with fire and electricity.

Jean widened her eyes as a smirk spread across the aliens face. He hit Magma with electricity and Surge with fire, sending both falling to the ground.

"NORIKO! AMARA!!" Cannonball yelled.

"BASTARD!!" Warpath roared as he, Hephzibah, Emma and X-23 ran at the Skrull.

He stood ready for their assault, until he was consumed by a sandstorm.

The Skrull laughed as his body began to generate intense levels of heat "You fool Sooraya, I would have thought you'd learned from your fight with Magma, and with the powers of the Human torch and many other super humans at my disposal what makes you think your pitiful powers can hurt me?" The Skrull asked with an evil cackle.

"Because it makes a great distraction!" A voice said through the sand.

Victory Peace tore through the storm, slamming his fist into the Skrull's face, sending him flying out of the storm and into the arms of Tattoo and Anole.

"Coming your way Beast!" The Two men said as they threw the Skrull towards Beast.

Hank smiled as he kicked the Skrull into the air, where Cannonball flew into his chest, knocking him back towards the ground. The Skrull growled in anger as he blasted Hank with his optic ray and hit both Greymalkin and Warpath with his plasma waves.

"You X-men were so foolish, you couldn't see what was in front of you, I mean come on, Summers would have seen the fault in sending the depowered students back home on of all things a bus, and kissing another woman at his wife's grave, humans are despicable creatures but he wouldn't have done that" The Skrull said, cackling as the team was laid out across the floor, licking their rooms.

"SHUT UP!!!" Sieg yelled, flying at the Skrull.

The Skrull hovered feet from the ground as the asgardian symbols on his chest glowed. A hammer appeared in his hand just as he fired his optic rays. Victory Peace, blocked the shot and slammed his fist into the Skrull's hammer. The shockwave shattered the glass around them and forced some of the X-men to clutch their ears in pain. Sieg tried to punch the Skrull, but the shape shifter merely grabbed his fist, squeezing it until the armour around the hand cracked. Even with a crack running down his armoured arm, Sieg didn't back down, head butting the Skrull.

"Unorthodox but impressive non the least" The Skrull said before hitting Sieg across the head with his hammer.

Sieg was sent flying into the side of a building. The Skrull smirked as he began marching towards Sieg's crouched form. But a black shield flew into his shoulder with enough force to break it. The Skrull growled as he bent the arm back in place and turned his attention to Soldier.

"Leave the boy alone!" Soldier said sternly as the shield returned to his hand.

"You are just a man in a mask" The Skrull said.

"Wrong, I'm a determined man in a mask!" Soldier said as he ran forward.

He ignited his beam shield, blocking a swing from the Skrulls hammer. Soldier smacked the Skrull with his regular shield, then used his bema shield to deflect an optic blast into the aliens chest. The Skrull clutched his burning chest and growled in anger. Red armour plates spread across his legs and hands, until blasters and rockets like the ones on Iron man's armour appeared on his hands and legs. He held his hand out and shot a beam into Soldier's shield, the force of which pushed Soldier across the floor until he stopped near a street lamp.

"I am the most powerful of the Super Skrulls, my power outranks even the first" The Skrull said, casually blasting Sieg deeper into the building.

"**Very well Skrull!" **A powerful voice declared.

The Skrull turned his head towards Jean, whose form was covered in both shadow and flames, her right eye covered by the phoenix insignia while her hair flowed freely, orange like flames.

"**Taste a fraction of the White Phoenix's power!" **Jean said as she held her hands out.

She fired a telekinetic blast at the Skrull, pushing him back miles away from the team. The Skrull fell to his knees, panting from the Phoenix's power. He suddenly felt the world around him freeze and next found himself on a dead husk of a world. The Skrull turned around, and saw Jean in a mixture of her second uniform and her phoenix costume.

"**You took my husband from me and for that you will feel my sorrow and my rage!" **Jean growled telepathically.

A massive Halo of fire engulfed the Skrull as he yelled in pain. He growled as he used his own telepathy to fight the psychic assaults, creating a rainstorm in this world that put out the Phoenix's flames. Suddenly, the scene shifted into a chessboard and the Skrull was caught in between two sides, the white pieces led by the Hellfire clubs White Queen, and the black pieces led by the Black Queen Jean Grey.

"**This seems so terribly cliché Jean, though I enjoy what you have in mind for our friend here" **Emma said with a smile.

The chess pieces suddenly shattered, revealing different versions of Cyclops. They all fired their optic blasts, hitting the Skrull from all sides. He yelled out in agony, but shocked expressions ran across Emma and Jean's faces as he grew to a gigantic size.

"**YOU FOOLS I HAVE ENDURED COUNTLESS PAINS DURING THE KREE-SKRULL WAR AND MANY MORE DURING MY TRAINING!!" **The Skrull roared as the board disappeared, replaced by the charred remains of the institute.

**"Doesn't it confuse you that no matter what happens things always seem to go bad, I mean almost every mutant was depowered because of the Maximoff woman, who also killed her own comrades, then after that countless innocent children"** The Skrull said mockingly **"Are BOOM! Blown up right before your eyes, and after that more students are killed, including an innocent girl who would have been saved if Cyclops had enforced a curfew, but he didn't…I don't know how you believed he once operated but did you truly think he wouldn't have set some kind of curfew for the children at a time like that?"** He asked the two women, who lowered their heads as he spoke.

This Super Skrull was hopelessly powerful; he was able to battle the women telepathically while also beating the teams. He stomped Gentle into the ground, and batted both Hellion and Cannonball away. Sieg was the one always the first to get back up again, flying the Skrull into the air. The Skrull smiled as he faced Victory Peace down. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew him away courtesy of Storm. This was soon followed by a telekinetic blast from Hellion. Eventually Storm and Hellion managed to blow the Skrull as far as the golden gate bridge. But Sieg wasn't done; he slammed his fist into the Skrulls stomach, and was repaid in full with a blow to the head, which sent him crashing into the bridge.

* * *

Slayer slowly got up off the floor, the burns on his chest and face having been healed by Elixir; he was also able to recover half of his energy.

"Thanks Josh, now we'd better get you guys to the battle so you can attend to the other wounded" Jack said, tearing off a loose piece of armour on his shoulder.

"Oh god, Sieg's been taking a beating out there" Celeste said with her eyes glowing a red colour.

"Wow he is!" Mindee and Phoebe said, and cringed as they saw Sieg take a very unpleasant blow to the back.

"The hopeful hero will survive…but he is not who you should be concerned with" Blindfold said cryptically.

'Oh great here she goes' the sisters thought.

"Hey why are you so concerned about Sieg Celeste?" Josh asked.

"Our little sister by several seconds has a soft spot for the young hero" Mindee said.

"Which is understandable, he's naive but cute, he's powerful and brave, like a knight in shining armour" Phoebe explained.

"And lets not forget his style, that shirt of his really shows off his tone" Mindee added.

"Oookay girls as much as I'd hate to interrupt I think that Blindfold has something vital to add" Slayer said.

"He approaches, the shadow bird approaches, to punish the deceiver…the hope of mutant kind and her guardian have returned, a battle will be fought and someone will be sacrificed yet again"

"Oh shit…a vision of death and sorrow, how wonderful" Phoebe said sarcastically.

"Nothings going to be lost while I'm around, time to see if I can do this right" Slayer said, putting his hands together and performing a teleportation spell like Pixies.

The next thing Josh knew he was in the middle of the golden gate bridge, and already saw a wounded Angel who needed tending to. Slayer reappeared a few seconds later, holding a few jetpacks in his arms.

"I figured some of you guys needed something to help you fly" Slayer said, handing the packs to Dani, Beast and Domino. "Okay guys, I'd hate to leave you in the middle of a fight but right now the Black Phoenix is on his way, the cuckoos are going to buy you some time telepathically while I go and get some help for a mission" Jack explained.

"What kind of mission?" Ink asked.

"We're going to rescue the real Scott Summers" Slayer said with a smile.

"If that's the case then I'll go with you" Soldier said.

Slayer nodded his head, happy to have the mans help. The two men stood side by side as Jack chanted the teleportation spell. They disappeared in a flash of light, and the X-men turned their attention to the Skrull, who was now flying feet away from the bridge. Jean smiled as she used her TK to alter the shape of the teams clothing, switching their casual clothing into their X-men uniforms. Sieg got up off the ground just as the X-men stepped forward.

"This seems like a classic pose moment" Iceman said with a smile.

"Indeed!" Hank agreed.

"All right X-men, like the kid said, kick his ass!" Wolverine said as his claws slid out of his knuckles.

The X-men flew forward, each one of them letting out a battle cry as they flew towards the Super Skrull.

* * *

Slayer and Soldier appeared on a fresh green field. The two men looked around and a smile crossed Jack's face while Soldier widened his eyes. Sitting on a rock was a silver haired man, wearing a blue military outfit with numerous guns strapped to his boy. But perhaps the most shocking part of his outfit was what was strapped to his harness, a baby.

"Nathan Summers AKA Cable! And this must be little Jeannie" Slayer said.

"Who the hell are you people?" Cable asked, drawing his gun.

"We're…friends of the X-men, a lot has happened so your going to have to sit down while we…I mean I explain" Jack said, knowing Soldier would probably contribute little to the explanation.

Suddenly another portal appeared beside Slayer and Soldier. The two men stood ready as another future X-man stepped out of the portal.

"BISHOP!" Cable yelled.

The X-man from the future aimed his pistol at Cable while the tentacles on his arm lashed out at Soldier and Slayer. Slayer formed a barrier around Cable and the baby while Soldier ran through the razor sharp tentacles, punching Bishop across the face and knocking him to the floor.

"ALL RIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" Slayer yelled.

Soldier was in midswing when Slayer yelled out at them to stop. His fist froze inches from Bishops nose.

"Ok, I'm going to deactivate the barrier around Cable and Soldier is going to let you go Bishop, so how about you cut this shit out then we'll all sit down and have a talk about what's been going on while you've had your head shoved up your…"

"Watch the language Slayer!" Soldier said, pointing to the baby while Cable looked at the warrior disapprovingly.

After a long explanation, Cable and Bishop were left shocked at the revelation. Cable ran his hands through his hair; it was hard to believe that the man who had entrusted the mutant hope to him wasn't actually his father. Bishop himself had a hard time believing it, even if he did technically betray the X-men he still thought of some of them as his friends.

"So you guys can fight all you want or you can actually do something worth the time, that baby isn't just the first born mutant, she's also a remnant of Jean…so if we reunite her with Jean then not only will the destruction of the universe be prevented, but the baby will become one with Jean and Bishop's future wont come to be" Slayer explained.

Bishop raised his head at that possibility while Cable immediately got off the rock he was sitting on.

"But what about the rest of the mutant population?" Cable asked.

"Not to insult your intelligence Cable but right now the universe seems a little more important than more mutants being born" Slayer said.

"And if one baby can be born that bears the mutant gene then many others might follow" Soldier said.

"Okay then, so where is Scott exactly?" Bishop asked, getting off his stump.

"I'll explain later, right now we've got more team mates to pick up" Slayer said with a smile.

Bishop and Cable reluctantly walked to Soldier and Slayer's side as he began chanting the words for the teleportation spell. They disappeared then reappeared in the ruins of the mansion. Cable and Bishop looked at the ruins, the memory of that day fresh on their minds. Soldier turned his attention to a motorcycle leaning against one of the walls as they walked towards the entranceway to the subbasement.

"Ah don't believe it!" A thick southern accented voice said as the four men got into the ruined war room.

A smile crossed Slayer's face, for leaning against the wall was the southern belle, Rogue. She was now dressed in her old green and white costume, and lifted off her hood to reveal her signature white streaked brown hair.

"Good to see the Phoenix managed to reach someone" Slayer said as he walked further into the room.

"I do remember hearing some ones voice, but I don't think it was the Phoenix" Rogue said.

"The arrival of the Phoenix corps probably pulled Cable and the baby out of the future, but who called Rogue?" Soldier asked.

"I've got a theory that it could be the heroes spirit inside Sieg's sword, but that's just a theory" Slayer said.

"Anyone else this spirit might have called?" Cable asked.

"Glad you asked!" A thick accented voice said from the doorway.

The "team" looked towards the doorway, Rogue growled at the man leaning against the frame, shuffling his deck of cards. Gambit strode into the room, his eyes focused on his former lover.

"Oookay guys…I think its time we discussed why we're here" Slayer said, stepping in between the Cajun and southern belle.

Another long and shocking explanation later.

"I don't believe it, Scott was a Skrull" Gambit said.

"I guess it does explain some things, god I can only imagine what Emma must be going through" Rogue said.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman who's just found out her lovers been lying to her eh Cheri!" Gambit grinned while Rogue shook her head.

"So I guess the plan is to rescue him right? But where exactly is he?" Cable asked.

"A Skrull prison complex, he's been kept heavily sedated in a dark room for years now" Slayer explained.

"So I guess we cant discount the fact that his mental state will be under strain" Soldier said.

Slayer nodded his head "But I think that we've got a chance of helping him, that's why Cable's here, he can reach out to his father, while the power of little Jeannie here!" Slayer said, scratching the giggling child's head.

"Can heal the strain on Scott's psyche" Rogue said, remembering how the mutant child had purged strain 88 from her mind.

"We aren't seriously going to be taking the baby with us are we?" Soldier asked.

"Of course not, which is why your with us" Slayer said with a grin.

Soldier raised his eyebrows, not quite realising where this was going while the others contained there amusement.

"You…are joking right?" Soldier asked.

"Don't worry, she grows on you pretty quick" Cable said, throwing the masked man his harness.

"Aaaah, you two actually look kind of cute" Rogue said.

Soldier remained relatively stoic as he cradled the baby in his arms. The team gathered around Slayer, who drew his sword.

"I don't have nearly enough magic power left to get us into space, so that's why Rogue will absorb my power and teleport us in and out" Slayer explained as Rogue removed her glove.

"You sure about this sugah?" Rogue asked.

"Just do it and I'm sorry if my memories get to you" Jack said as Rogue planted her hand on his cheek.

The two of them yelled out as Rogue absorbed some of Jack's power and memories.

* * *

_A child was born, without family, but he was destined for greatness._

"_I'd hate to imagine what the child will go through, with how screwed up things are in the public sector now" The doctor said as the nurse cradled the crying child._

_The boy was haunted every night ever since he could remember with dreams. Dreams of a powerful voice calling out to him, claiming they were connected. The children at the orphanage looked down on him because of this, called him weird and never let him in to their games. No family wanted him, and even the people in charge of the orphanage cared little for him. Eventually he was bought into the sex trade, spending his nights with paedophiles and anyone else with some kind of fetish for eight year olds._

"_COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!!"_

_Enough was enough, he ran away from it all. For once in his life he felt free, he felt happy. Then he found true happiness, he now felt like he was in heaven. But not even happiness can last forever._

"_LAYLA!!!"_

_The girl he had fallen in love with was raped, and gunned down right in front of his eyes. And now he was faced with a sorrow he had never felt before, being enslaved was one thing but seeing the one person you cared for more than anything in the world was something else. His sorrow turned to anger and hate, and then a power awakened inside him. He unleashed his rage, but not even his awakening mutant powers could save him from death._

"_You may be dead Jack, but your work in the land of the living is not done yet…not by a long shot!" The great voice of the warrior spirit Yoshinto spoke to Jack from beyond death, and Jack Robinson was reborn as the warrior Slayer._

* * *

Rogue fell to the floor, puffing and panting, her eyes wide in utter shock at how much suffering Jack had endured.

"Cheri, are you all right?" Gambit asked, planting his hands on Rogue's shoulders.

"All that pain…I'm so sorry Jack" Rogue said.

"Please just…don't go on about it" Slayer said, lowering his head, for letting anyone access his memories like that was hard for him.

Not only would he have other people pitying him, but he'd also have to think about that time of his life, and he couldn't afford that distraction. Rogue stood in the middle of the gathered group, while Soldier stood a few paces away. The woman began chanting the words for the teleportation spell, picturing the ideal entrance point in her mind, which she accessed from the memories Slayer absorbed from the Skrull. Soldier saluted the group before they disappeared.

"Good luck team" Soldier said.

Suddenly the masked mans nose twitched and he looked down at the baby. She giggled innocently, taking what she had just done as funny. Soldier sighed as he clutched his sensitive nose.

"Mission…reluctantly accepted!" he said before tearing another cloth off of his belt, for use as a makeshift diaper.

* * *

Back in San Francisco, the battle between the X-men and the Skrull continued. The Super Skrull had unbelievable power, flying across the sky; lighting was useless against him so Storm opted for strong bursts of wind. She managed to throw the Skrull backwards, scrambling his senses with a miniature tornado. Cannonball flew to the left while Sunspot flew to the right, both of them crashing their fists into the Skrull's sides. The Super Skrull fired a stream of flames at the young X-men, who scattered in order to confuse him. Ink managed to land a lucky hit to the Skrull's head, while Rockslide managed to hit him with one of his launched limbs.

"Pixie, make him see unicorns!" Wolverine said to Megan, who began showering the Skrull in her pixie dust.

"Let's add a little fear into the equasion!" Moonstar said.

Dani activated her powers, and along with Pixie's dust she created a very convincing illusion. The Skrull widened his eyes as he saw the Kree hero Captain Mar-Vell flying towards him. Captain Mar-Vell crashed his fist into the Skrull's face, and then elbowed his head. The Skrull was sent flying into the sea, where the Kree captain followed.

"I suppose you enjoy playing the hero Sieg" The Skrull said as the Captain was revealed to be Sieg.

"SHUT UP!!" Sieg roared.

He flew at the Skrull, punching him across the head. The Skrull swam back, landing a kick across Sieg's chest. Then he grabbed Sieg by his neck and unleashed a surge of electricity. Sieg yelled in pain as the electricity conducted off the water, but the Skrull was unaffected, smiling in a ghost like appearance, which probably meant he now had a form of density manipulation. Sieg's lifeless body began sinking to the bottom while the Skrull flew out of the water.

"SIEGFRIED!!" Nightcrawler yelled.

"Has been dealt with" The Skrull said smirking.

"YOU BASTARD!!!" Wolverine yelled as he flew at the Skrull, followed by Jean, Hank and Iceman.

Iceman created an ice spike, which he threw to Beast. Hank threw the makeshift javelin straight into the Skrulls belly, causing him to yell out in pain from the blow. The Skrull blasted Wolverine with his optic ray, then knocked Iceman off his slide. Beast landed a lucky kick to the Skrull's head before he "flamed on". Jean promptly absorbed the flames and unleashed them in a telekinetic wave. The Skrull was sent crashing straight through the bridge.

"FOOLS I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" The Skrull yelled as he began to grow in size.

The Skrull hovered at a size twice that of the bridge. While some of the X-men looked up in utter shock, Jean flew towards the invader.

"Ve need to get to Siegfried and fast" Nightcrawler said.

"It's no use Kurt!" Emma said, lowering her head.

"Vhat do you mean?" Kurt asked.

"He's dead Kurt" Emma said, her voice neutral.

"No, the kid cant be dead" Wolverine said.

"I think Emma's right, I cant feel any thoughts off him" Dani said, lowering her head as she spoke.

"I don't have enough strength left to fight him" Gentle said, his muscles returning to their ordinary mass.

"Sieg…DAMN YOU!!!" Wolverine yelled.

Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolfsbane and Warpath took flight towards the Skrull, joining Jean in her attack. Storm bombarded the Skrull with massive chunks of hail stones, while Warpath pulled on the Skrulls left ear. Wolverine stabbed his claws into the Skrulls back and began climbing up his spine. He came towards the base of the Skrulls neck and readied his claw.

"THIS ONES FOR YOU SIEG!!" Wolverine yelled, digging his claw into the back of the Skrulls neck. "AND LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT GOOD OLD CYKE!!!" The Canadian mutant roared as he stabbed his other claw into the same place and began tearing into the Skrulls neck.

The Skrull flicked Wolverine off of him, his own shape shifting abilities helping in healing his wound. He suddenly yelled out in pain, as he felt Nightcrawler biting his eardrum. The Skrull changed into his flame form, but Nightcrawler managed to port out in time.

"YOU PATHETIC WEAKLINGS! IT'S POINTLESS TO OPPOSE ME!!" The Skrull yelled in a voice that shook the city.

His thunderous voice could be heard from miles away, it practically deafened the Starjammers as they approached the scene on a truck they had picked up.

"Hey, where are you guys going, it's a war zone out there" One of the police officers said as they blocked the area off.

"Sorry buddy but our families back there, Gabriel it'll probably be dangerous there so you can stay with these policemen" Alex said to his younger brother.

"No…I want to see the rest of my family" Gabriel said.

Alex nodded his head as he drove through the police barricade. At the Greymalkin building, the cuckoos couldn't access their telepathy to stop the approaching Black Phoenix. Part of it was the amount of power the masked man generated, another was the distraction of the battle.

"Sieg…no…oh god no he cant be dead!" Celeste whimpered while he sisters hugged her.

"BASTARD! YOU TOOK MY HUSBAND! YOU DECEIVED MY FRIENDS AND NOW YOU'VE KILLED AN INNOCENT BOY!!!" Jean yelled as the phoenix aura glowed around her.

She slapped the Skrull across the head with her wing, sending him stumbling backwards. The Skrull fired his optic blast, which flew past Jean. She turned her head and widened her eyes as the beam flew towards Hellion, Greymalkin and Hephzibah. The blast slammed into the bridge, the shockwave sent Hellion and Hephzibah flying onto the trunks of abandoned cars.

"Oh no…GREYMALKIN!!" Ink yelled.

"Wait, where is he?" Rockslide asked.

"He must have been in the middle of that blast" Sunspot pointed out.

"GET HIM!!!" Hellion yelled, flying at the Skrull with Wolfsbane, X-23 and Ink by his side.

"FOOLS!!" The Skrull cackled as he used Havok's blasts to disable X-23, tearing most of her costume and skin off.

"LAURA!!" Hellion yelled, scooping the clone up in his arms.

The Skrull then threw numerous fireballs from his fingers at Ink and Wolfsbane. Ink managed to fly out of their path, but his left arm received a serious burn. Rahne wasn't as fortunate.

"Oh god…RAHNE!!!!" Dani screamed as her best friend's charred remains fell to the ocean floor.

The remaining founding New Mutants looked at where Rahne had sunk in utter shock.

"Josh, X needs some help quick!" Julian said, landing beside Josh.

The healer didn't react, his thoughts occupied by the image of the woman he had once had an affair with.

"JOSH WAKE UP!" Nori yelled.

"RAHNE'S DEAD JOSH! NOW GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME OR LAURA'S GONNA DIE TOO!" Julian yelled in Josh's face.

Josh, snapped out of his haze, laid Laura out on the floor and pressed his hands against her wounds. Jean and Storm continued their assault on the Skrull with hail, wind and telepathy while the others stopped, mourning their dead, or just realising that they couldn't do a thing against this threat.

* * *

The rescue team had not reappeared in the place that Rogue had aimed for. They were instead in the heart of the Skrulls cafeteria.

"GREAT JOB ROGUE!!!" Cable yelled as his guns blazed, shooting down a hoard of Skrull guards.

Numerous Skrulls jumped at Rogue, but a flurry of explosive cards blew them away before she could launch her attack.

"Careful Cheri, your central to the escape plan" Gambit said as he kicked one Skrull across the head.

"He's right Rogue don't use up your energy" Slayer said as he blocked a swipe from one Skrull.

"And what about you?" Rogue asked.

Slayer slashed two Skrulls in half, and then impaled one on his blade. He threw the body on top of two more and swung the blade around, beheading six more Skrulls in a circle. Rogue dropped her jaw at the mans skill as he ran straight into a crowd of Skrull guards.

"I don't need my powers to deal with these guys…you shouldn't either!" Slayer added as he kicked another Skrull across the head.

Rogue nodded her head and used her own self defence skills to knock one of her attackers to her knees. She then removed both her gloves and grabbed one of the Skrulls by his cheeks. Rogue's skin turned a green colour as she accessed the Skrulls shape shifting abilities, changing her hand into a claw she used to slash the throat of one Skrull.

"I almost couldn't stomach working with you Bishop!" Cable said, banging one Skrull's head with his arm while Bishop blasted three more away.

"I did what I thought I had to do Nathan, to avoid a future that wasn't worth living in" Lucas said as his tentacles suffocated a Skrull guard.

"Less banter more running, follow me!" Slayer said as he sliced open one of the doors.

The team began running through the corridors of the one cell prison complex. Despite it being one cell it was still considerably large, and many guards tried to get in their way. Slayer's eye glowed as he dodged the swipes and gunshots of the guards, using his own superior skills to hack them down. A door opened ahead of them and four more Skrulls stepped out to face them.

One of the Skrulls wore a visor like Cyclops, with armour similar to Iron man's. The second had Angel's wings and a mark on his chest like Havok's logo; he also had claws like Wolverine's. A much bulkier Skrull obviously had the strength of some Avengers or X-men powerhouses while the much smaller female Skrull beside him had diamond skin and long red hair like Medusa's.

"I see Clerr Knot failed!" The armoured Skrull said.

"I knew all that power got to his head" The female Skrull muttered.

"Queen Veranke made a mistake gifting him with all that power, she should have given a more capable Skrull the chance to deceive the X-men" The Winged Skrull said.

"Are you guys going to banter all day, or are you going to come over here so we can kick your ass?" Slayer asked.

When the Skrulls didn't answer, the X-men plus Slayer ran forward. Bishop fired an energy blast into the bulky Skrull, smashing him through the wall. The Medusa type Skrull lashed at the X-men with her hair, slapping Slayer across the face. Jack immediately recovered and cut that strand of hair off her head. Rogue ducked underneath a punch from the Iron Skrull, allowing Gambit to throw an explosive card into his face. Cable shot at the female Skrull, who used her hair as a shield. The iron Skrull shot at Rogue and Gambit with Sunfire's flames. Gambit and Rogue ran across the room, avoiding the streak of fire that the Skrull created.

"You shouldn't have come here alone fool!" The Winged Skrull said, changing his hand into a liquid metal blade.

Slayer blocked the slash with his sword and countered with a thrust. The Skrull teleported, appearing behind Jack and slashing him across the back. Jack fell to the floor, breathing heavily as blood ran down his back. He closed his eyes and focused on using the eye. Slayer stretched his blade outwards just as the Skrull teleported. The Skrull reappeared, with Slayer's sword in his chest. As the Skrull yelled out in agony, Slayer tore the sword out of his chest, and then rammed it into his head.

"One down, three to go!" Jack said as he leant on his sword.

The bulky Skrull threw Bishop into a wall. The tentacles on his arm lashed out at the Skrull who ignored the cuts and grabbed Bishop by his neck.

"BISHOP!!" Cable yelled.

"Don't turn your back fool!" The female Skrull said.

"Try watching your back" Slayer said.

The female Skrull turned around to see Slayer behind her. He wouldn't have killed an opponent from behind, but luckily for him this Skrull's reflexes were slow and she could do little do prevent her death. Slayer's sword pierced through her diamond chest and straight into her heart. Bishop yelled out as the Skrull dug his teeth into his shoulder and tore off his robotic arm.

"Fool, you probably could have tried revealing the deception in the past, but then again it wouldn't have done you any good anyway, because your future would still come true" The Skrull cackled as he let the wounded Bishop fall to the floor.

"SKRULL!" Cable yelled as he bombarded the powerhouse with bullets.

The Skrull threw Bishop into Slayer and readied an energy blast for Cable. As Cable reloaded his gun the Skrull fired. But Bishop jumped into the path of the beam, absorbing its energy. Slayer threw his sword like a javelin, using his own magic to increase the speed it was flying at until it pierced through the Skrulls heart.

'That's three down, where's that other Skrull?' Slayer wondered, looking at Cable and Bishop, who gave one another a nod of respect.

"That future doesn't matter now, I've done terrible things in order to kill an innocent child, I killed Charles" Bishop said, dropping his head in shame "But I hope that I can gain some small redemption, by saving Scott"

"You don't need to ask for forgiveness from me Lucas" Cable said, patting Bishops shoulder.

"Aaaah how sweet!"

The three men turned around to see the Iron Skrull, dropping the battered Rogue and Gambit to the floor.

* * *

Sieg was alone, slipping into a black void.

'So this is death' Sieg thought to himself.

Suddenly he saw a light and images. Images of great heroes dying, images of Captain America, Hawkeye and Banshee. He then saw Rahne with the New Mutants, the countless adventures they had shared, the moments they laughed and cried, and her short but passionate romance with Elixir. Also came the image of Greymalkin saving Blindfold and fighting alongside his fellow X-men. But then he saw their deaths.

"Wolfsbane, Greymalkin" Sieg said.

"**Sieg, get up!" **He heard a voice call out.

"My hero!"

**"If you want to accomplish something, if you want to be a hero then get the hell up"**

"**Come on Sieg, they need your help"**

"**Your not dead yet Sieg, your spirits still burning, so get back up and fight"**

"These voices, they feel so familiar"

Sieg looked at a red-gloved hand reaching out to him. He grabbed the hand and felt a new strength within him. Wolfsbane was dead, so was Greymalkin and their murdered, the one who had deceived and upset Jean and Emma was allowed to go free. Siegfried opened his eyes, which glowed with a blue colour. He yelled out, his muscles expanding until the armour shattered. Energy sparked and crackled around him as he began floating to the surface. Jean, Emma and the cuckoos sensed Sieg as he was revived. He poked his head to the surface and saw the giant Skrull, and a smile crossed his face.

"What are you gawking at Grey?" the Skrull asked.

Jean merely pointed her finger down, where the Skrull looked.

"THIS IS FOR MY HEROES!!!" Sieg yelled.

Sieg, as bulky as the Hulk and definitely as strong applied a devastating uppercut to the Skrulls chin. The Skrull flew backwards, clutching his bleeding face. Sieg hovered in front of Jean, his arms folded as he looked at the Skrull with a stern expression on his face.

"Wow…that must take a lot of steroids!" Rockslide and Iceman said together.

"Nice abs!" Cessily said.

"So, you've seen muscles before" Hellion said.

"Not like those!" X-23 said weakly, with a smile on her face as she looked at Julian.

"Laura, are you all right?" Julian asked.

"Well enough to do this!" She said as she grabbed Julian's collar and pressed her lips furiously against his.

"Looks like she's all right" Josh said.

The Starjammers van pulled up beside Hank and Colossus, and the others were quite shocked to see the said team get out of the vehicle.

"Alex, firstly how the hell are you here and whose that kid with you?" Wolverine asked, pointing at Gabrielle.

"Long story short, that Black Phoenix bought us here and reversed Vulcan's ages and erased his memories" Alex said.

"Long story short here, Cyclops turned out to be a Skrull who kidnapped the real one" Wolverine said.

Alex and Gabriel widened their eyes in shock. They had been looking forward to a happy family reunion but now that was quite impossible. The two brothers turned their angered eyes to the Skrull, both of them giving off the familiar aura's they generated whenever they used their powers.

"SKRULL!" They both yelled.

Jean and Sieg turned around, to see Alex and the Starjammers standing on the bridge. They both flew out of the way as the two Summer's brothers held their hands out. Havok and Vulcan yelled as they unleashed a magnificent blast of energy that tore straight through the Skrulls shoulder, slicing off his arm. The X-men, despite their losses couldn't help but laugh as the Skrull yelled and cursed in anger.

"AAAAAGH FUCKING SUMMERS!!!" He cursed.

"Oh god I cant resist it, "has anyone seen my arm you…""

"IT WASN'T FUNNY IN THAT STUPID ANIME AND ISNT FUNNY NOW!!!" The Skrull yelled at Pixie.

"You can't miss it its green" Sieg finished smugly.

"YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!" The Skrull yelled as his eyes glowed a fierce red colour.

"**Skrull!"**

The Skrull and the X-men looked up at the sky, and immediately a look of pure fear crossed the Skrulls face as the Black Phoenix hovered above him.

"**You have been revealed…and for your actions you will be punished!" **The Black Phoenix said as he aimed the palm of his hand at the Skrull.

The Skrull suddenly began crying out as flames began trailing up his legs. He continued to scream until he disappeared.

"**He will be punished, he will die over and over in the white hot room, for that should be his price for deception and murder" **The Black Phoenix said as he disappeared.

The X-men were left speechless as the man disappeared. Alls that was left for them to do was go back home to mourn and wait.

* * *

The rescue team was left with a difficult situation; the Iron Skrull now had his lasers ready to melt both Rogue and Gambit while Slayer, Cable and Bishop looked on.

"The five of you made a vital mistake even thinking you could stop me" The Iron Skrull said.

"Fuck you!" Bishop growled as his arm glowed with pink energy.

Bishop blasted the Skrull away from Rogue and Gambit. While Bishop kept the Skrull busy, the rest of the team ran to the cell. Slayer cut the door down and the team members were visibly shocked by what they saw next. Scott Summers was chained to the floor, his face covered by a ruby quartz mask, and his body as thin as bone.

"Oh my god, Scott, what the hell did they do to him?" Gambit asked.

"This room generates waves that disrupt a humans brain when they're here for a long time, the only way we can wake him up is with Cable and Jean's help" Slayer explained.

Gambit reached into his coat for his lock picks, but stopped as Cable shot the chains.

"Party pooper!" The Cajun muttered.

Gambit and Slayer rested Scott's arms on his shoulders as delicately carried him out of the cell. Rogue and Cable followed close behind as Bishop rushed past them.

"Is Scott all right?" Bishop asked.

"What do you think?" Slayer asked.

Bishop lowered his head at Slayer's response knowing that was a stupid question. He looked behind Cable and Rogue and widened his eyes. The Skrull may have had his armour shattered but that wasn't the end. He held a diamond spike in his hand and was ready to throw it. As the Skrull javelin threw the spike Bishop didn't question what he did next. He ran forward, shoving Cable out of the spears path. Nathan watched in utter shock as the spike slid through Bishops chest and stuck out the other end. As Bishop slowly fell to his knees, Cable rushed forward.

"LUCAS!" He yelled.

Bishop coughed as blood flowed out of his wound, Slayer and Gambit rushed forward to deal with the Skrull while Cable held the bleeding man close.

"Come on Lucas stay with us, we'll get you home where Elixir can heal you" Rogue said, encouraging the man she had worked with numerous times.

"No way, the kids probably tired after all the healing from the battle with this other Skrull, besides I don't deserve it" Bishop said.

"Don't be ridiculous of course you deserve to live" Slayer said as he walked back up to the group, his sword stained by the Skrulls blood.

"I'm proud to die like this, proud to have made up for something that I've done…I wanted more than anything to prevent my future, or rather my past, but then I realised there's more than one way, my time with the X-men has been some of the happiest of my life and I wished those times had never ended" Bishop coughed heavily while the others gasped.

"Rogue, you've got to get us out of here, I don't have nearly enough energy for us to make it back to Westchester" Slayer said.

Rogue nodded her head and wiped her tears away as she began to focus the mystical energy she absorbed.

"Cable…Nathan, I'm sorry for trying to kill you and the baby all those times" Bishop said.

"You don't need my forgiveness, you did the same thing I would have done if I lived your life" Cable said.

"I need someones, after all I did kill Charles"

"No you didn't Bishop" Gambit said.

Bishop looked at the Cajun with a confused expression on his face.

"The Prof's still alive…looks like you're an even worse shot then you thought" Gambit said with a light smile on his face, but tears welling up in his eyes.

Tears of joy ran down Bishop's face as he felt his life slipping away. He smiled as he closed his eyes, the memories of his past fading away as he remembered all his adventures with the X-men. Cable slammed his fist into the floor while Rogue burst into tears, and was comforted by Gambit. Slayer bowed his head in respect for Lucas Bishop, the X-man till the end.

As the team reappeared outside the mansion the baby burst into tears. Soldier bowed his head, recognising the babies wails as wails of sorrow. He picked the baby up and rested her in another room, not wanting her to see Bishops body being carried in respectfully by Slayer and Cable while Gambit and Rogue carried Scott.

"He died a hero?" Soldier asked.

"He died a hero, an X-man!" Slayer said.

Soldier walked into the room he had kept the baby. He looked at his reflection on the reflective wall. First he checked whether there was anyone besides the baby inside the room before he removed his mask and looked at himself.

'Had you been there…no stop thinking like that…but no more, no more death or sacrifice from the X-men, ever if it costs you your life again Soldier, don't you let any of them die' Soldier vowed as he bowed his head and thanked god that men like Lucas Bishop had lived.

Next chapter 9: The reunion

With the end of the universe approaching the X-men return to Westchester, to reunite Jean with her happiness and Scott. Having little time to mourn, the X-men plan their final assault against the phoenix corps while Jean is reunited with Scott. Meanwhile Rachel bears witness to the beginning of the Black Phoenix's plan.

* * *

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, there may be some inconsistencies with Bishops death in comparison to the comicbooks now, consdiering I havent actually read Cable's new series. I wanted to give Bishop a death that would redeem him for what he did during the Messiah Complex, I originally had the thought of Bishop blowing himself up with the prison complex, but then I stuck with the idea of Bishop taking a bullet for Cable and dieing a happy man

Next chapters the real reunion of Scott and Jean.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men or Slayer

Enjoy

* * *

The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 9: The reunion

There was almost a bitter silence as the X-men flew back to Westchester. Jean sat on her own, her thoughts occupied by her reunion with Scott and Nathan, instead of her mutant zero suit she wore the grey shirt and trousers that she had worn before her death. All of the previous New X-men were wearing the personal uniforms they had worn after M-day, while the cuckoos, Anole and Pixie wore their squad uniforms. The old New Mutants sat together, each one of them thinking about their dead teammate. Emma also sat on her own, thinking of the betrayal she had experienced, the lie that she had lived. Sieg at first was on his own, his body was back to normal and he now wore his jacket.

"Hey handsome!" Sieg looked up to see Celeste standing over him.

"I guess I can't think about things on my own then" Sieg said.

"There's not much you can hide from a telepath Sieg, I just wanted you to know that your "death" upset me greatly" Celeste said.

Sieg looked at the girl as she sat next to him, her eyes beginning to well up.

"I'm just not used to all these emotions running through my head, even when my sisters and I had our hive mind we were distant, I'm afraid that you'll get hurt yet at the same time I'm happy when I'm around you, your so good that its sickening yet at the same time, it makes me want to be better as well" Celeste explained, laying her hand on Sieg's shoulder. "I know we've just met but I could tell you were attracted to me and I you, and that kiss that we shared in your heroes realm…did it mean anything to you?" she asked.

Sieg widened his eyes for a moment before he answered the question "Of course it meant something to me, I've never really thought about girls before, but when you and your sisters told me about how your emotions were taken I felt obligated to help you, to save you…and then when we were training, the way you moved was so elegant, no your beautiful, you and your sisters encouraged me to intensify my training yet you were also concerned about me…and then when we kissed each other it felt right, I like you and I want to see where this relationship leads us, I don't want to be like other people whose relationships go nowhere, and I wont be like Scott and Jean, always losing one another, I'll protect you but I'll also keep myself alive so you don't cry" he explained, tracing a hand across Celeste's cheek.

"I just wanted to hear you say it" Celeste said with a smile as she and Sieg kissed one another.

"I never really got Graymalkin, to be honest I found his talk of witchcraft a little annoying, but when it counted he would pull through" Ink said to his young X-men team mates, who each nodded their heads.

"I just can't believe they're gone" Josh said, his thoughts going back to Rahne.

"How are you holding up Josh?" Noriko asked the golden boy.

"I'm dealing with it, I just wish Alani was here, it's a bit hard seeing the woman I had an affair with dying without my girlfriend being here"

"How are you and her doing anyway?"

"Well, it was a little hard explaining to her where I'd been over the past few months with X-force, especially when the Cuckoos had erased my memory of the team, she didn't want to come back but I did, I felt that I could help" Josh explained.

"Damn right you could help, if you weren't here Laura would probably be dead right now" Julian said, sitting with X-23 quite close to his chest.

"I gotta agree with Julian Josh, you could do so much with your powers why spend your days making out with your girlfriend?" Anole asked.

"Yeah, but it couldn't help Graymalkin cause there was nothing left of him to heal, and Rahne was too far gone by the time we fished her out of the sea" Josh said, lowering his head over his powers limitations.

"We're approaching the mansion now" Havok said from his place on the pilots seat.

"I don't believe it, I'm finally going to get to see my older brother" Gabriel said eagerly.

The Black bird landed right in the middle of the ruined school grounds where Cable was waiting.

"You guys got here just in time, Scott's woken up and has been muttering Jean's name in his sleep" Cable explained as he led the team to the subbasement.

Rogue and Gambit were in the corridor, playing with the baby. Upon seeing the Cajun, some of the team gave him a cold look; he did after all join the Marauders at one time. Soldier stepped in between Gambit and Wolverine, who was ready to pop his claws.

"That's enough, all of you, a lot has happened and a lot of things have changed, the past is the past forget the bad and remember the good, remember that the Gambit standing here is an X-man now and forever" Soldier explained.

"And what gives you the right to decide whose and X-man bub, you aint even on the team" Logan said aggressively.

"True, but lets just say I know quite a bit about doing bad things for a greater good…even if those things are a little misguided" The masked man said, motioning his head at a door to his right.

Wolverine and Storm approached the door and opened it, they saw laid out on the old infirmary table a body bag, with Bishop inside.

"When push came to shove, he took a bullet for his team mate" Soldier said as he walked past the team.

Jean, Emma, Havok and Gabriel immediately ran into the war room, to see Slayer standing with an unconscious Scott. The warrior looked at Jean, who was crying at the sight of her husband. He slapped himself, knowing that Jean couldn't truly react to the situation unless she was reunited with her happiness. Emma's reaction was much clear, as she immediately ran over to the body, laid her head on his chest and cried her eyes out. Slayer supposed that she was one part crying over what she could have had, while also crying that the man she loved was alive.

"I think its time we finished reuniting Jean with her fragments" Slayer said as Sieg and Celeste entered the room.

Sieg nodded his head and called Cable into the room.

"Whose that?" Gabriel asked Alex.

"Our nephew"

"That's weird, I thought that people started out small and got bigger until their skin went wrinkly, does that mean I'm the older brother?" Gabriel asked, causing Alex to laugh while Cable shook his head.

'I'm getting real tired of the old guy jokes' he thought.

Soldier soon entered the room carrying the baby in his arms.

"Okay guys here's how things will work, Jean and Cable will reach into Scott's mind and help reactivate his consciousness, I meanwhile will cast the reuniting spell, in theory Jean and Nathan's love will pull Scott to the surface, and in turn the love that Scott has for Jean will activate the spell and unite happiness with the rest of the fragments" Slayer explained.

Slayer sat in a meditation pose, with Cable and Jean quickly joining him. While Emma left the room, Slayer's eye began glowing as Jean reached into Scott's mind with her telepathy. Soldier laid the baby down in the circle that Slayer had made and walked out of the room. He sniffed the air and walked up to the surface, where Emma was sitting on her own.

"You're a strong woman Frost, you've lost students and now a lover, I'm surprised you haven't snapped" he said.

"Suicide can come in stages" Emma muttered.

"Your not going to kill yourself, it would be understandable but your not going to kill yourself"

"You have no idea what I've been through, your just a good old soldier hiding behind a mask" Emma snapped.

"You know for a qualified therapist your bad at figuring people out without your telepathy"

"And are you so much better?" She asked coldly.

"I'm not qualified but I do come up with decent enough ways of living, the love you had was a lie, at least from his end, but you know what…your going to get over it, cause your Emma Frost, no cause that's the only way your going to be able to live on, your cold, ruthless…yet you care, for your students and anyone else who you let get close, when they're hurt you take responsibility for your mistakes and that's a rare thing…but you cant let your failures hang over you, no one would have been able to see that that Scott was a Skrull, so your going to get over it and live on…or you could have another telepath erase your experiences with "Scott", but that's a cowards way out and your not a coward, which is why after you shed your tears you will get over it, live on and quite possibly seduce someone else, because your Emma Frost…if that's who you want yourself to be"

Emma looked at the masked man, his words making at least some small sense. She could never just forget that she loved Scott, but she could accept the fact that Scott never had those feelings for her. So she got up off the floor and ran a hand through her hair.

"You know darling there was something you got wrong, I'm a qualified sex therapist" She said playfully.

Soldier grunted as he walked away "Like I'd ever go out with a woman like you" He said coldly while Emma merely smiled.

Emma wiped the tears out of her eyes and laughed, deciding that she would live on.

* * *

A strange occurrence had happened in the deep reaches of Shiar space. One moment a part of space was empty, and then a planet had appeared. It was at least half the size of the earth, but was baron and rocky, with not a single trace of water. Numerous ships under the Shiar empress Lilandra flew towards the planet, Rachel was in the flagship with Lilandra, who with Death bird dead recovered her kingdom.

Rachel looked down on the planet, and faced great shock when suddenly one Shiar ship was blown apart

"Strange Phoenix raptors are guarding the outside of the planet Empress, we cant get any close" One of the ships crew members said.

"We must stop the Phoenix no matter the cost" Lilandra said sternly.

"Wait, Lilandra, please allow me to go down to the planet alone, I want to scout it out, see for myself what is going on" Rachel said.

Lilandra reluctantly nodded her head, knowing that Rachel had the right to do what she wanted, considering the part the empire played in the massacre of the Grey genome. Marvel Girl travelled down to the airlock put on a space suit and opened the airlock door. She used her telekinesis to fly in space, sneaking past the Phoenix raptors. Once she had reached the surface of the planet she looked around, astonished by the baron wasteland the planet was. She landed slowly thanks to her telekinesis; Rachel slowly removed her helmet and breathed in the fresh air.

'Well people can at least breathe on the planet, but everything's dead, the planet was never here before…could the power of the phoenix have created it?' Rachel wondered.

The daughter of Jean Grey turned to a stone pillar in the distance. She noticed the top of the pillar give off a pink shine as members of the Phoenix corps began to gather round it.

* * *

Meanwhile in Westchester, Slayer began the ritual. The runes beneath him gave off an intense orange shine as Jean's eyes glowed. She and Cable reached into Scott's mind and began their search. Jack, Gabriel and Alex could do nothing but wait, neither one of them moved as the son and wife of Scott Summers reached out to him. In the depths of Scott's mind, the astral forms of Nathan and Jean stood at the gate of the mansion. It was different, more similar to what it was when Xavier started the X-men. They walked straight through the gate like ghosts, walking through the school grounds until they reached the door. When Cable opened the door, they heard tearful moans all around them.

"Scott!" Jean called.

"Scott…dad!" Cable called out in the corridors of the mansion.

The two of them searched for what seemed like hours, searching Scott's room, any room that they thought the sound might have originated from.

"Scott…please come back to me" Jean whispered.

That's when they felt it; the two of them immediately ran down to the subbasement, through the corridors and to the room that contained Cerebro. Cable tore the door down, looking inside to see a brown haired man crouched on the floor, looking down with tears running down his eyes, which were covered by a bandage. Both Jean and Cable rushed to Scott's side, shaking him in order to snap him out of his trance.

"Scott, Scott please look at me" Jean said, tearing off the bandage on Scott's eyes.

Suddenly the light of the Phoenix consumed the war room. Jean's whole body shined as the baby merged with her. Scott immediately burst awake.

"JEAN!!" Scott yelled, grabbing the helmet covering his face.

The shine of the Phoenix dazzled all who looked into it. Jack looked to Scott, noticing his bony body beginning to turn back to normal, and some strands of his long hair fall off. Cable suddenly began yelling out in pain as he rolled across the floor.

"NATHAN!!" Scott yelled as he tore the helmet off.

Scott's eyes glowed a red colour as the power of the phoenix held back his optic blasts.

"FATHER FORGET ME!!" Cable yelled.

Scott looked to the shining Jean and immediately ran at her, grabbing her seemingly naked body in his arms. Her light intensified and even Jack had to put a hand to his eyes to block out the light. The other X-men opened the door, but found themselves blinded by the light.

"JEAN…I CAN SEE YOU I CAN SEE YOU!!" Scott yelled in happiness as he looked upon his wife.

While everything was chaotic to the X-men, everything was peaceful for the two lovers as they looked into each other's eyes.

"Oh Scott, I cant tell you how long I've wanted to look at you, to see your eyes" Jean said with tears rolling down her elegant face.

"Jean…your what kept me alive, that cruel Skrull wanted to torment me so he kept me alive, all's I ever thought about was you, I love you so much that it hurts me, you're the only one who can see my real eyes, the only one who I want to spend the rest of my life with" Scott explained, trailing a finger across Jean's face.

"Scott, I love you too, more than you could ever imagine…please, I've wanted it for so long, kiss me!" Jean begged.

Scott smiled as he lowered his head and gently kissed his wife. He then threw all things aside and hugged Jean tighter, putting more passion into the kiss. The two lovers embraced one another as the light faded; yet their passion didn't as they kissed one another. Separated for years, the two of them were finally reunited. Scott kept his eyes closed as he separated his mouth from Jean's.

'Are you still in my head Jean?' he wondered.

**"Always my love, from this moment I'll always be with you"** Jean sent.

While Scott crouched on the floor with his eyes closed, Emma walked up to Jean, holding a spare visor for Scott. The two women looked at one another as Emma gave Jean the visor. Words didn't need to be exchanged; it was the thoughts that mattered. And Emma's thoughts were accepting. Jean grasped Scott's face and slid the visor onto his face. Scott looked towards the X-men and then at Jean. The woman had tears in her eyes, but not tears of sorrow or rage, but tears of joy. Both of them embraced one another while the X-men looked on, Celeste getting close to Sieg as the two smiled at the moment.

"Never thought I'd say this bub, but its good to see you Scott"

The original X-men were the first, followed by the second generation and then the rest. Scott hugged Warren, and Hank and Bobby and anyone else he could get his hands on. Alex and Gabriel walked through the crowd to see their brother. Scott first hugged Alex, then looked down at the nervous Gabriel.

"**What are you waiting for baby? Hug your baby brother" **Jean sent with a smile.

Scott looked down at Gabriel astonished. He touched Gabriel's cheek gently to see if he was actually real.

"I have a brother?" Scott wondered out loud, his memories drifting back to the time Sinister hinted at a third brother.

Before Gabriel knew what was happening, Scott grabbed the boy and lifted him above the ground.

"Gabriel, the third summers Brother, my brother!" Scott said with tears in his eyes as he hugged the boy close.

Jack smiled at the moment before he looked at where the baby once slept, and found much to his surprise that the child was still there.

"God what happened?" Cable wondered as he got up off the floor, he paused, "What the, what happened to my voice?" He asked.

The X-men looked at Cable in shock while Jack burst into honest laughter.

"I guess you don't need to worry about old guy jokes anymore" He said and the others soon joined in.

Cable looked at the reflective wall, and to his astonishment he saw that he was now a lot younger. Though his hair was still white, his clothes were a lot larger, at least for him, because he his age had been reversed to the point when he was no longer the battle hardened man in his fifties or sixties, he was now at least seventeen or eighteen years old. Nathan took a moment to look at himself before he turned to his father with a smile. He rushed towards Jean and Scott hugging them both tightly as James picked up the baby.

"Well amigo's it seems now that we have the problem of Jean sorted out, we can get onto more pressing matters" James said.

"He's got a point what are we going to do?" Hellion asked.

"I've been monitoring the progress of the Black Phoenix's, that's why I had Rogue absorb my powers so that she could focus on one thing while I concentrated on another, another planet has formed on the border of Shiar space closest to the Earth, this planet is baron and is being used as some kind of station for the Phoenix egg, at one point on this planet is a pillar and there's something on tops of it…oh god!" Slayer paused as he widened his eyes.

On the baron planet that Slayer spoke of, Rachel watched in pure shock as the object on top of the skyscraper sized grew until it was clearly visible. This supposed heart of reality, was the M'Kran crystal.

**"The Phoenix blade and a fragment from every sun in the universe, this is all the power we need to shatter the M'Kran crystal, and with that gone we shall have our peace"** The Black Phoenix said as he and the other members of the corps formed a ring around the crystal and began the ritual that would shatter it.

Rachel could only look on and pray.

"They're going to shatter the M'Kran crystal and trigger an explosion that will destroy the universe" Slayer said to the shocked team.

"If that's the case then we need to get over there" Cyclops said.

"But Scott, you just recovered your strength" Bobby said.

"And I think that right now we need everybody to fight this thing" Scott said, looking to his team mates, though he hadn't seen what the former students had been up to, he had faith that they were at least capable of putting up a good fight.

"Yeah but there's a problem, Megan doesn't have the strength or quite frankly the concentration to get us all the way into Shiar space, Rogue's already recovering from absorbing my memories and that of a Skrull trooper, and it'll take too much time for me to gather the energy needed to teleport us all the way to that planet" Slayer explained.

The X-men all looked down, Scott grinded his teeth over the current predicament. It was then that James stepped forward with a cocky expression on his face.

"If that's the case then I'll fly you over their myself, you might as well go in style" He said.

"What are you talking about?" Surge asked.

"He's talking about the giant ship that's currently floating over the mansion" A voice said from the doorway.

Looks of shock crossed the faces of most the X-men, excluding Gambit and James, who merely smiled. Standing at the doorway, was the man who started it all, Charles Xavier, walking tall with a kind expression on his face. Scott was the first to walk towards the man, touching his shoulder to see if he was real.

"Scott, about Gabriel…" Xavier began, but was cut off as Scott hugged his father figure.

The rest of the X-men followed while the new comers stayed behind. Eventually Sieg worked up the courage to walk up to Xavier.

"Charles Xavier, it's a real honour to meet you sir, I'm Siegfried, or Sieg if you want" he said nervously.

"Siegfried, oh, I have heard of you" Charles said, placing a hand to his chin.

"How sir?"

"Let's just say a group of people I worked with were quite interested in you"

"Before they threw the Hulk into space" Emma smirked.

"Is anyone curious about this ship of James's or is that just me?" Slayer asked.

"It certainly is a colourful ship" Xavier said plainly while James laughed.

James led the team up to the surface, as soon as they laid eyes upon the ship they gasped. It was twice the size of the Black Bird and shaped in a dynamic style. The wings were thick, with rockets built into them; there were also rockets behind the base of the ship, the glass of the cockpit was coloured a yellow colour while the ship itself was a grey and red colour. When Slayer and Jean looked at the ship, they both shared visions of an armoured hero baring the same colour scheme as he clashed with a black armoured warrior.

"Take a good look people at my pride and joy, the Ultimatum!" James said as he clicked a button on his watch.

A hatch opened beneath the ship, and a set of stairs slid onto the grass. James was the first to walk up, practically skipping to the single pilot seat. Beast jumped onto the seat headrest closest to James, looking at the controls in interest. The members of the X-men began strapping themselves into seats, minus Jean and Scott.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't think we're properly equipped for a fight" Scott said.

"Ah I can fix that" Beast said as he hopped off his seat and ran back to the mansion.

The X-men waited for a moment before Hank returned with a bag.

"When I cleared out the mansion I found something that I figured could stay here, but now that your both back I cant think of anything more right to wear" Beast said as he unzipped the bag and removed two costumes from it.

They were both the gold and blue costumes that Jean and Scott wore after their days in X-factor, the costumes they wore when the X-men were split into two squads. Both Jean and Scott looked at the clothes and then one another.

"Hey James, do you have a bathroom on this ship?" Jean asked, never taking her eyes off Scott.

"Sure its out the back…wait a second why do you need to know?" James asked, but the two lovers were already gone.

He shrugged his shoulders as he began preparing the ship for flight. The Cuckoos walked off the ship, Mindee holding the baby while Celeste lingered in Sieg's arms. Both of them looked at one another before sharing a goodbye kiss.

"Come back to me!" Celeste said.

"I promise I'll be back, then we could ask you out on a real date...dinner and a movie maybe" Sieg said with a grin.

"I'd like that!" Celeste smiled before she kissed Sieg on the cheek and walked away.

Sieg ran back onto the ship and strapped himself in. The X-men braced themselves, but much to their surprise the ship wasn't going fast on the inside. But on the outside is was already in Mach four as it flew into the air.

"This things pretty fast but how are we going to get to that planet on time?" Slayer asked.

"Very simple, I activate my light wings"

Plates on the ships wings slid open and the ship gradually began to increase speed as it left a trail of red energy behind it. As the ship moved into light speed, James activated the autopilot and the ships warp generator activated.

"Wow, now I feel like I'm in Star Trek!" Hellion said, looking outside at a scenery that could only be described as something similar to a picture from a sci-fi movie.

"And how long will it take for us to reach Shiar space?" Soldier asked.

"About an hour, probably less than that" James said as he walked towards some chambers. "That should give me enough time to put my battle gear on"

"You're fighting too?" Sieg asked.

"Hey kid you didn't think I would fly you guys here and just sit back and watch the greatest battle in cosmic history did you?" James asked as he stepped in front of his white and red battle armour.

James put on the bulky chest plate, which had the gauntlets and shoulder guards attached to the sleeves of the black shirt underneath it. He then put on the boots and helmet, which covered his entire head with his face being covered by a red screen.

"Impressive look, one question, why do the colours of your suit and ship seem so familiar and how did you get your hands on the materials?" Soldier asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"I'm just as rich as Tony Stark and getting richer by the day, I tend to move in and out of America and Spain so I avoid Stark's influence, I'm also considerably more intelligent than him, I don't like to brag but I'd say I'm smarter than even Reed Richards…who I must admit has become very stupid recently…I mean blowing the Hulk into space…"

"James you're ranting again!" Sieg said quickly.

"Sorry, I could go on for days about how much of an asshole Tony Stark is as well as how secretly dumb Richards is, I once heard him pronounce Nuclear the wrong way"

"James shut up!" Sieg growled.

"One more question, how's this ship going to survive once we reach the planet?" Jean asked from the doorway.

The team turned around to see Jean and Scott in their old costumes, holding one another's hands tightly. Emma frowned at the sight but contained herself as James explained his plan.

"Okay, here's my plan, Xavier it's true that your telepathy has been increased right?" James asked.

"Yes it is true, but what are you getting at young man?" Charles asked.

"It's quite simple really, you, Jean and the woman with the big tits whose name I keep forgetting will combine your telepathic abilities and distract the Black Phoenix on the Astral plane, once you hit him with your combined powers in theory this should cause a backlash that will disorientate him and the rest of the Phoenix corps, giving us enough time to arrive at the planet without the ship sustaining any threatening damage" James explained.

"That seems like a good idea on paper, but since we're a lot closer to the planet and we can see it wont it be easier for Slayer and Megan to teleport us to the planet with her teleportation spell?" Sieg asked.

"Yes that's the perfect idea, I just wanted a chance to establish how little I respect Mrs Frost!"

"Its Miss Frost darling make sure you remember it otherwise…"

"You'll make me puke every time I hear a particular word or become sexually obsessed with the works of an artist…really Frost don't you get tired of empty threats?"

"I'd hate to interrupt a Frost bashing session but don't we have a universe to save?" Wolverine asked.

The other X-men nodded their heads while James smiled sheepishly.

"This is it, we're gonna pick a fight with the most powerful being in the universe" Cable said.

"We'll steal the crystal before they shatter it, blast any Phoenix corp. member that gets in our way and save the day right?" Sieg asked.

"Unfortunately I have a feeling that we'll end up having to sacrifice something" Soldier said silently, his eyes creeping towards Scott and Jean.

Next Chapter 10: The Impossible battle

The X-men go up against the phoenix corp., though drained of some of their power in an effort to shatter the crystal they are still formidable foes. Mother and daughter share a short reunion and as the situation gets worse and Jean is faced with the hardest choice she will ever make.

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!

Feel free to say whether you think James is a Mary Sue, he's an OC that's already appeared in two fics of mine, or rather the person who will eventually become James has appeared in two fics already. Two or three chapters left, hope everyone's enjoying the fic.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I dont own The X-men or Slayer

* * *

The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 10: Impossible battle

Throughout the X-men's history, one of their deadliest and most complex enemies has been the Phoenix itself. At times it proved to be of great help, but unfortunately the times when it would tear the X-men apart outweighed the times that it had helped. Jean still held her husbands hand, never wanting to let go for fear that the Phoenix force would overcome her. Though she was complete she was still technically the White Phoenix of the crown. And that meant that when the time came she would have to make a choice.

But for now, Jean looked at Scott, and he looked back as Slayer and Pixie chanted the words for the teleportation spell. Sieg gripped his sword tightly.

'Watch me…Aeon' Sieg thought as the team disappeared.

The team appeared on the planet, miles away from the crystal and the corps itself. Each member of the team looked at the tower with a determined expression on his or her face. Electricity crackled around Surge and Storm, Remy shuffled his cards, Wolverine popped his claws and everyone else went through their own form of preparation.

"A crystal that big is going to be hard to carry!" Rockslide pointed out.

"Which is why Hellion and Jean are key to the plan, I've got a miniature field generator on my ship we could use as a net" James explained.

"Okay then, Julian, Jean you two try to stay back and let the rest of us handle any grunts okay" Cyclops said.

"Be careful Gabriel!" Havok said and Vulcan nodded his head.

Sieg was the first to move, jumping forward, followed by Jack, Jean and Cyclops. The rest of the team quickly followed. Storm flied with Jean, Hellion and James, while Sieg and Slayer jumped from rock to rock. The Black Phoenix's eyes glowed as he sensed the X-men approach.

"**Why, why couldn't they just spend what little time they had in happiness?" **He asked himself as he motioned for several corp. members and Phoenix raptors to deal with the distraction.

James flew in front of Storm as the raptors approached. He stretched his hands out and fired two beams of red light from his gloves. The beam slammed into the two Phoenix corp. members, knocking them back. Storm gathered the clouds of the planet and bombarded the corp. members with lighting. In the crevices of the rock planet, the ground troops ran even as golems began rising out of the ground. Rogue ran alongside Surge with her super speed. Her eyes glowed red as she used Cyclops optic beams to blow one golems head off. Wolverine slashed one in half and Colossus crumbled another with a single punch.

Nightcrawler teleported several times, avoiding multiple punches from a golem. He jumped onto one golems back and teleported him high above one of the other golems. Kurt jumped off the golem and let him fall, landing on the golem below it. X-23 slashed one golem right down the centre, alongside Mercury who had changed her hands into blades. Mercury's red hair disappeared and her lower body stretched out as she slashed any golem that got in her way apart.

Storm created a miniature tornado that put two flaming raptors out. Slayer jumped up and slashed one raptor in half, then blasted another with mystical energy. The phoenix symbol glowed on Jean's eye and she smiled. Cable and Soldier fired their guns into a row of golems, crumbling each one apart. Cyclops, Vulcan and Havok linked their beams together, blowing the rest of the golems away from them. More Phoenix corp. members began to fly out of the phoenix egg, all of them drained but ready to buy their leader more time.

Siegfried batted one Phoenix corp. member away with his blade, and deflected another blast. He passed his energy through the blade, creating a wave that consumed three raptors. Gentle and Rockslide smashed several golems apart, while Surge electrocuted two corp. members. Polaris fired a blast that destroyed two raptors and Pixie stunned one corp. member with her dust. Soldier used his buzz saw to slash one Corp member in half while Cable shot one straight in the head.

"Shit, I'm out!" Cable growled.

"My magazines don't fit your weapon, you'll have to use your arm!" Soldier said.

"Sorry Nathan your on your own" Domino sighed as she shot one corp. member in the head.

Cable dropped his guns and closed his eyes. When he opened them his eyes were crackling with Telekinetic energy. He thrust his hand forward, sending at least ten phoenix Corp members flying back.

"Well what do you know, looks like the Phoenix didn't just give me some youth" Cable said with a smile as a golden aura surrounded his body.

Cable took to the skies, using his new TK to blow several Corp members away. Black Phoenix turned his attention away from the crystal and towards the X-men.

"**They would rather die then spend their remaining hours in happiness" **He said before he grabbed the Phoenix blade.

He held the blade out in front of his face and swung it towards the bottom of the crystal formation.

"I DON'T THINK SO!!" A voice yelled out.

A telekinetic beam slammed into the Black Phoenix's side. The Black Phoenix was knocked back, letting go of the Phoenix blade. Rachel flew at the Phoenix, grabbing the blade and slashing him across the chest. The Black Phoenix's blood sprayed onto Rachel's face, but the deep cut was quickly healed thanks to the force's power.

"Why are you doing this?" Rachel asked as she continued to hack at the masked Phoenix.

"**For peace!" **The Black Phoenix said, backhanding Rachel and grabbing her hair.

"What the hell are you talking about how can destroying the whole universe bring you peace?" She asked.

"**TOO LONG TOO LONG!!" **The Black Phoenix yelled as he flew down towards a rock formation and slammed Rachel headfirst into a boulder.

Slayer fired a flurry of mystical flames, which overpowered the Phoenix raptors. He then ran a finger across his blade, creating a sword of pure light. Colossus picked up Slayer by his collar and threw him into the air. Sunspot flew upwards, giving Slayer a further boost to take him above the crevice. Slayer span his sword over his head and swung it, launching a mystical wave at the Black Phoenix. The wave slammed into the Phoenix, knocking him off Rachel. Siegfried then changed into his first armoured form. His tail slammed into the ground, creating a shockwave that sent Sieg flying towards the Black Phoenix. The Phoenix blade appeared in the masked mans hand and both he and Sieg slammed their swords together.

"**It's been too long, we've watched everything for too long!" **The Black Phoenix said as he leant into the blade.

Rachel turned her head towards Sieg and the Black Phoenix. She got off the floor, ready to aid the boy. But she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. Turning around she widened her eyes to see a teenaged version of Cable, wearing a black version of the suit he wore during the civil War.

"I'd stay out of that battle sis" Nathan said.

"Nathan, quit trying to sound hip!" James said above them as he, Hellion and Rogue flew towards the crystal.

Rachel looked down from the rock formation and smiled as she saw the X-men fighting golems, phoenix raptors and corp. members. More Corp members flew out of the egg to get in the flyers way, but both Cyclops and Cable fired at the corp. members, driving them away from the telekinetic members.

"What exactly is going on?" Rachel asked her half-brother (technically).

"Believe me it's a long story, I'll probably tell you about it afterwards" Nathan said before he flew to help Hellion and Rogue.

Sieg jumped over the Black Phoenix's blade, smacking him with his tail. The Black Phoenix swung his sword, knocking Sieg off balance. He quickly regained it to block a swing from the fiery sword. Soldier slashed one golem in half with his buzz saw and threw his shield into a corp. member. He looked to the battle with Sieg and the Black Phoenix, and then went back to back with Slayer.

"I wouldn't be too worried about him you know" Slayer said as he slashed one golem in half.

"Don't worry I believe in Siegfried…faith is one thing this world needs more than heroism" Soldier said as he slashed two phoenix raptors apart.

"Actually I think both heroism and faith are needed in good combination!" Jack said.

Raza stabbed one corp. member with his rapier and slashed another with his sword. The three original Starjammers, Raza, Ch'od and Hephzibah smiled in delight as they fought alongside one another again. Their only regret was that Corsair was not here to join them. They turned their attention to Christopher Summers sons, who despite their history still fought on together. Vulcan blew several corp. members away with a single wave.

Rachel watched the battle in awe, partly confused but more happy to see that the X-men were still fighting together.

"Hello Rachel!"

Rachel turned around and widened her eyes in utter shock. Jean smiled as she floated in front of her daughter. Tears ran down Rachel's face as she looked at Jean.

"Mom!" She said as she walked forwards, touching the tip of Jean's finger just to see if she was truly real. Upon the realisation that the woman standing before her was truly her mother, Rachel broke down, crying in Jean's arms.

"It's okay Rachel, mommy's here" Jean said, stroking Rachel's hair.

Slayer's eye flashed and he smiled at the mother/daughter reunion.

"Rachel, I'm glad that your still here, but right now we've got to get the crystal out of here!" Jean said.

Rachel wiped her eyes and nodded as she and her mother flew off the rock formation. Mother and daughter flew towards the crystal and joined Rogue, Cable and Hellion in their attempt to lift the crystal. Armour slammed her fist into one corp. member and Rockslide launched his fists at two others.

"Hey didn't you smash that guy earlier?" Santo asked.

"Idiot they're the Phoenix's they cant die" Hisako growled.

Storm lashed out at the corp. members with lightning and wind. Several of them fired orange beams into the woman's chest and back, causing her to scream in pain. Warpath threw his knives into the heads of two corp. members, but they both fired an optic blast into his chest throwing him back.

"THERE'S NO END TO THEM!!!" Ink yelled as he fought beside Anole and X-23.

Wolverine stabbed one Phoenix corp. member over and over, roaring with every stab. Phoenix raptors flew into Wolverine, burning his costume and skin.

"This really is becoming a pain in the ass!" Cannonball growled as he crashed into a golem.

Charles and Dani attacked the members of the Corps with psionic waves and arrows respectively. Though their attacks managed to hurt them mentally they relied on Dust and Gentle to keep them safe.

"WHY TRY TO DESTROY EVERYTHING! WHAT PEACE DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE!!!!" Sieg yelled as his sword shattered and his armour shifted into its second form.

"**PEACE THE PEACE OF DEATH!!!" **The Black Phoenix yelled.

The Black Phoenix slashed Sieg across the chest. He flew backwards, but the Phoenix fired an optic blast into his wound. Sieg yelled in agony as the beam deepened his cut.

"ELIXIR TEND TO SIEG NOW!!!" Soldier yelled as he ran at the Black Phoenix, bombarding him with bullets.

Josh finished healing Magma and ran to support Sieg. But his attention then turned to Gambit, who fell to the floor with a hole in his shoulder.

"FORGET ME TAKE CARE OF THE WOUNDED CLOSEST!!" Sieg yelled as he got up off the dirt.

"Damn this thing weighs a ton!" Hellion growled with sweat running down his face.

James looked at the metre on his gauntlets wrist and cursed as the energy for his ships shield was running low.

"XAVIER I NEED YOU TO GET ON THE HORN TO THE SHIAR SHIPS! IF MY SHIPS BLOWN APART WE'VE LOST!!!" James yelled before shooting one phoenix raptor.

Charles nodded and put his hands to his head, reaching out to his lover Lilandra. The queen widened her eyes when she heard Charles voice in her head.

"**Lilandra!"**

"Charles?" She said.

**"I wish there was time for us to talk more but we need your help, you must make sure that the red and grey ship isn't destroyed, the Ultimatum is our last hope!"**

Lilandra nodded her head and commanded her fleet to fly to the Ultimatum's aid. The ships of the Shiar fleet fired their weapons, disintegrating the Phoenix Corp. members. Soldier looked up to the skies, seeing the explosions and blasts of the Shiar fleet.

'Humanity on the ground, Shiar in the air, we can do this' Soldier thought as he deflected a blast from the Black Phoenix with his energy shield.

Soldier then threw his solid shield, slamming it into the Black Phoenix's head. He rolled across the floor, throwing two grenades at the Phoenix. The explosion consumed the Phoenix, who walked out unscathed.

"**We just…WANT TO HOLD THEM AGAIN!!!!" **The Black Phoenix yelled.

Suddenly the Phoenix generated a telekinetic pulse that threw Soldier, Colossus and Slayer back. The masked man took flight towards those that were trying to lift the crystal. James flew in the Phoenix way, but was hit in the chest by an energy blast. The blast cracked his armour, but the Black Phoenix wasn't done. He grabbed James's leg and threw him away from the crystal. Then he began hitting the armoured man with miniature comets before he crashed into the ground.

"Damn it…all's we've managed to do is lift this thing a few feet" Hellion growled.

"MOM LOOK OUT!!!" Rachel yelled as she flew into the Black Phoenix's path.

Jean turned around, drawing her attention away from lifting the crystal. Her eyes widened as the Black Phoenix dive-bombed towards Rachel with his sword pointed towards her chest.

"RACHEL!!" Cable yelled as the sword tore through Rachel's chest.

Jean gasped as the Black Phoenix threw Rachel's lifeless body aside.

"SON OF A BITCH!!!" Cable yelled, punching the Black Phoenix across the face.

Jean looked down as Rachel slowly fell towards the ground. Upon seeing his daughters body, Cyclops gasped in horror and grief while Wolverine roared in utter rage.

"PETE FASTBALL TIME!!!" Wolverine yelled.

"I'm on my…!" But Colossus was smashed into a rock by a golem.

Soldier ran towards Josh, tackling him.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Elixir yelled as Soldier carried him towards Rachel's fallen form.

"HEAL HER!!" Soldier yelled as he placed Elixir at Rachel's side.

"I don't know if I've got enough strength to resurrect her" Josh said.

"You regrew someone's heart for god sake" Soldier growled.

"Fine, but we need to get her to a place where I can focus"

"That cave over there, carry her there and I'll cover you!" Soldier said and drew his pistols.

Josh threw Rachel over his shoulder and ran towards the cave with Soldier behind him, shooting anything that got too close. Cable punched the Black Phoenix across the head again and again. But the Phoenix eventually grabbed his fist pushed him, sending the former mercenary flying into Hellion. Jean and Rogue flew at the Phoenix, flames glowing in the formers eyes as she faced down her fellow corp. member. Slayer jumped into the air, throwing several scythes of energy at the golem's slicing them apart. The scythes solidified as Slayer landed beside Soldier.

"Josh will probably pass out from the strain of his powers, you know what you have to do to save Rachel?" Jack asked the masked man.

Soldier aimed his gun at Jack and fired, the bullet flew straight past Slayer's head and straight into the heart of a corp. member.

"Have you got a job to do?" Soldier asked Jack with a frown.

Slayer shook his head before he ran up the pillar that the crystal was on. As he ran up the pillar, he continually threw mystical fire at the Black Phoenix, drawing his attention away from Rogue and Jean. Storm flew with Jean and Rogue, the three women put everything they had into lifting the crystal with telekinesis and wind. Slayer jumped at the Black Phoenix, ready to slice him down the centre. But the phoenix held Jack in place.

**"I would have thought you of all people would want death, the chance to see and hold her again!"**

"Not every one's ready for that" Slayer growled.

The Black Phoenix threw Jack aside, and soon after he was struck by an optic blast courtesy of Cyclops.

**"I see that they managed to save you Scott Summers, why could you not spend the remainder of your life loving Jean as she deserves to be loved?"**

"I don't have an answer for that!" Cyclops said as he fired at the Black Phoenix again.

The Black Phoenix deflected the blast, which flew straight into Wolverine. James got off the floor, wiping the dust off his cracked armour and taking off his shattered helmet. Josh laid Rachel out in the cave and pressed his hands against his chest. Soldier aimed his pistols at the approaching corp. members. He pulled the trigger but cursed as his guns had ran out of bullets. Soldier dropped the guns to the ground and looked at the scythes that Slayer had created. He shook his head before picking two of the scythes up. The corp. members swoop down towards him, but in one fluid spin he beheaded two of them before slashing the other two apart. Josh looked at the man's skill in awe before turning back to his patient. Soldier slashed one corp. member right down the middle, and kicked another across the face before he threw his left scythe at a golem, beheading it. James looked down at Soldier, putting a hand to his chin as he watched Soldier slash any enemy that got in his way.

"I WONT LET ANYONE DIE!!!" Victory Peace yelled as his armour shattered and he changed to his Hulk like form.

He jumped at the Black Phoenix, punching him in the chest. Three corp. members grabbed Rogue, Storm and Jean, throwing them away from the crystal.

"QUEEN LILANDRA OUR SHIP IS MAINTAINING DAMAGE WE MUST RETREAT!!" One of the Shiar ships crew yelled.

"NO! We stay and defend that ship NO MATTER WHAT!!" Lilandra yelled.

Soldier's ears twitched as he heard Josh fall to the ground. He slashed one more corp. member before running into the cave. Josh's skin was starting to lose its gold tone but he was still breathing at least. Rachel however, her wound was healed but she her breathing and heart rate was irregular. Soldier looked to Josh, who was out cold.

'It's dark, maybe she wont see' Soldier thought as his fingers twitched around what was left of his mask.

Victory Peace smashed the Black Phoenix into the ground. Never giving him a chance to get up. Sieg grabbed the Phoenix blade and held it above his head, ready to finish the Black Phoenix off. However the Black Phoenix fired an optic blast, pushing Sieg away.

**"Too long have we watched this world, watched the sins of others, watched our loved ones die while we stay in the void, forever watching, never being able to see them again, I want to hold her, I want to be with those I love…my brothers, my parents, my wife and my children…I WANT TO JOIN THEM I WANT TO DIE!!!"**

"I'll grant your wish bub!" Wolverine growled.

Colossus threw both Wolverine and X-23 into the air. The two feral mutants slashed the Black Phoenix's arms off. But he quickly pushed both of them away with his TK. Sieg got up off the floor and took flight again, landing a neck breaking punch to the Phoenix's face.

"**With the crystal destroyed, everything will end!" **The Black Phoenix said as his arms grew back.

Soldier checked to see if Josh was well and truly unconscious. Then he turned his attention to Rachel. He pulled his mask down and lowered put his finger on the girls chin, holding her nose as he lowered his lips to hers. James fired the Uni-beam on his chest, pushing the corp./ member off of Jean. Gentle fell to the floor, his muscles returning to their original mass. Ink was sent crashing into a boulder and Magma was struck in the back with a beam. The Black Phoenix sent Sieg flying with a single punch. Then he flew down towards where the phoenix blade had landed. Dazzler and Polaris fired at the Black Phoenix, who pushed them aside with a single wave of his hand.

'Lets hope this works' Soldier thought as he breathed into Rachel's mouth.

Beast jumped into a phoenix corp. member, punching him in the face multiple times as Cable kept several members away with his TK, protecting a worn out Surge and Dust.

"This is really starting TO PISS ME OFF!!!" Santo roared as his rock like hide began to darken.

Suddenly Rockslides body changed into its molten rock form, the same one he had taken in limbo. He punched one corp. member away from Anole, and slammed another's face into the ground. Then Santo crumbled one golem to pieces with a single punch, and then he hammered another corp. member into the ground. Emma punched a phoenix corp. member across the face and stunned another with a psionic blast.

'One two three' Soldier thought to himself as he pushed Rachel's chest multiple times. "Come on Rachel you can survive this!" He said, the shadows covering his face as he breathed into her mouth.

Deep in the space Lilandra watched one of the fleet ships being blown apart.

"HOLD ON THE X-MEN WILL PULL THROUGH!!!" Lilandra yelled.

Charles fell to the floor, blood flowing out of his nose as ten Phoenix corp. members surrounded him. Cannonball slammed into the Corp members, and took an optic beam for Dani.

"SAM!!" Dani yelled.

Sunspot landed in between Sam and the golems, stretching his arms out to defend his old teammate.

"Damn it, I'm starting to run out of power!" Rogue cursed as she fired one more optic blast before Scott's powers faded.

Soldier continued applying CPR to Rachel, never giving up on her. He pressed his mouth against hers and breathed into it once again. Her eyes flashed open and instinctively she reached out with her telepathy. She widened her eyes at the things she saw. Soldier quickly stepped back as Rachel regained consciousness, shaking his head to get her out and quickly putting his mask back on.

Slayer slammed his sword into the Black Phoenix's flaming barrier. The two of them stood, one in midair, the other on the ground both trying to get the better of one another.

'I'm starting to wish hotshot was here instead!' Jack thought with a grin as he poured more energy into his sword.

Siegfried flew towards the Black Phoenix with his fists ready. The Phoenix flew away from Slayer and easily dodged Sieg's bulky fist. Sieg continued to punch at the masked man, who dodged his punches with ease. James flew to the bottom of the crystal and put a hand to his chin. Metaphorically a light bulb flashed above his head as he came up with an idea.

"Mr and Mrs Summers, I could use your help right now!!" James called down to Jean and Scott.

Husband and wife both nodded as they flew to James's level. Soldier reactivated his shield and gave Rachel a look before he walked out. She looked at Soldier as he ran back into the fight, putting a hand to her chest before she carried Josh out of the cave.

"Okay here's my plan, I need Jean to cover Sieg in a telekinetic bubble, and I need Cyclops to distract our emo phoenix over there as he carries the crystal into space" James explained to both Scott and Jean.

Cyclops looked at Jean, giving her a quick kiss before he let James fly him off the pillar. The two of them landed on another rock formation, with a perfect angle to shoot the Black Phoenix. Cyclops was the first to fire, removing his visor and consuming the Phoenix in a blast of optic energy. James followed up with his Uni-beam and a hail of missiles. Jean telepathically sent Sieg the details of the plan and Sieg immediately flew to Jean's level.

"**Everyone, Sieg needs you to have courage, this is the only way this will work, put your faith in him and endure this!" **Jean sent telepathically to everyone.

Very few of the X-men could show courage at this point. Emma was one of them as she continually punched any thing that got in her path. But even with veterans like Beast, Wolverine and Storm fighting on, some, particularly the younger X-men crouched on the floor, too worn out from the fight.

"EVERYONE YOU NEED TO PUT YOUR FAITH IN ME! IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO ENSURE THE CRYSTALS SAFETY!!!" Sieg yelled out.

"HAVE FAITH IN THE BOY!!" Soldier yelled as he smacked one corp member across the head with his shield.

Rachel skidded to Soldier's side, pushing two golems away with her TK. Sieg looked at his muscles, which were starting to shrink from the lack of courage that the heroes were showing. Angel picked Rachel and Soldier up, getting them out of the way of a flurry of kamikaze phoenix raptors.

"Frost, try to give everybody some courage" Wolverine ordered.

"I've tried and quite frankly I'm a little pissed that the one time we actually need to break people's free will we cant" Emma said.

"Please everybody, we need a miracle…and we can only get that miracle if you have a little hope!" Sieg said, begged the X-men that were giving up.

"Chere, I just want you to know I love you" Gambit said, crawling across the floor till he reached Rogue's side.

"Don't give up yet swamp rat!" She growled.

"You know me, I just like saying it" the Cajun smiled before he got up off the floor.

Soldier cursed as his energy shield ran out of energy. But still he showed courage by fighting on, slashing any corp. member that approached him. Iceman froze two golems before he too fell to his knees.

"**You put up a brave fight X-men, Slayer you are truly deserving of the spirit that lies within you, and Sieg you have earned the name hero…but we wont be denied!" **The Black Phoenix said as he floated towards Jean and Sieg.

Sieg lowered his head, ready to give up hope. Suddenly Slayer's eye glowed, as did Jean and the Black Phoenix's. A crack ran across the surface of the Phoenix eggs shell and the X-men watched in shock as each member of the Phoenix corp. suddenly burst into flames.

"Damn it, why do I have to end up in lava land?" Iceman asked himself.

The Black Phoenix widened his eyes in horror as the egg shattered. Light engulfed the very planet and the X-men covered their eyes. Jean shook in terror as she saw a figure fly through the light. The scenery had changed into what seemed to be the White-hot room; the crystal was back to its original size and now appeared behind the shadowed figure. A symbol of the phoenix glowed on the figures chest and Wolverine growled as he saw whom it was.

"**Impossible you couldn't have escaped!" **The Black Phoenix said.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance, now it is quite impossible, you were too obsessed with punishing those who caused your little White Phoenix's suffering, but now I'm afraid you've given me exactly what I wanted"

The X-men all got up off the floor and looked upon the man floating before them. He was the Skrull, the Skrull that had impersonated Scott, the Skrull who killed their friends and the Skrull who had been taken to the phoenix egg by the masked man. A grin spread across his face as Pixie shook in fear and Emma snarled in anger.

"You see my unique ability allowed me to absorb the Phoenix force, and in the white hot room I have an unlimited supply of the force, thanks so very much little black Phoenix!" The Skrull said before he burst into maniacal laughter.

Jean remained silent, staring at the crystal and the phoenix emblem on the Skrulls chest. She stepped forward, to Scott's side. The Skrull raised an eyebrow as Jean began to speak.

"I know what we should have done from the beginning" She whispered.

"Jean what are you…" Scott was interrupted as Jean kissed him passionately.

Slayer widened his eyes as he knew what Jean was thinking.

"Jeannie…don't you even think about it!" Wolverine growled.

"No Jean, please don't!" Scott begged, holding his wife's hand tightly.

"I'm sorry I have to, this is my fate…to stop him I have to become the White Phoenix again…we should have known from the beginning that things wouldn't be easy…I love you Scott, now and forever!" Jean said as she pushed Scott back with her TK.

"JEAN!!" Scott yelled.

Flames appeared in front of the X-men, separating them from Jean as she turned towards the Skrull. A look of fear spread across his face as Jean's eyes glowed and she began to hover above the floor.

"Forever Jean, but forever Phoenix! This is my destiny!" Jean said before she closed her eyes and the white costume of the Phoenix of the crown appeared around her.

Next Chapter 11: Never regret!

One must make a choice for the good of all, one must have faith in their choice, above all else one must not regret the choice they make

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Two more to go, this updates pretty quick because I knew exactly what I wanted to write for the chapter. Anyway next chapters the final battle and befor epeople ask no I will not say what Rachel saw in Soldier's mind, that would be ruining the point of him being the badass mysterious guy :D

If people want to know how the Skrull absorbed the Phoenix force you'll know next issue, and it'll explain why he impersonated Scott, why he kept Scott alive and why he has so much power, its the big reveal.

Hope everybody enjoyed the chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men or Slayer

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The Cry of the Phoenix

Chapter 11: Never Regret!

Tears fell down the eyes of Scott Summers, of anyone and everyone that was close to Jean. She would return but always she would die, only to rise again, but in order to rise again she would create chaos in the white-hot room. Rachel reached out into the flames, not wanting to give her mother up. Scott could only stay in his place, the grief overtaking him. Jean closed her eyes as the aura of the phoenix appeared around her. The Skrull stepped back in fear.

"Stay away…I SAID STAY AWAY!!" He yelled.

"**You can't give it up…YOU CANT!!" **The Black Phoenix yelled.

Soldier looked towards Rachel, who had fallen down to her fathers level. Then his eyes went to Slayer, who shook his head as his eye glowed. Sieg took a step but stopped when he felt Soldier's hand on his shoulder.

"You deceived my friends, impersonated my husband, you tried to break us apart, but you failed in your mission…you may have the Phoenix force but you can not control it!" Jean said as she pointed a finger at the Skrull.

The Phoenix symbol on his chest disappeared and his eyes ceased their glowing.

"You…are the first mutant of the Skrull race and you used your powers to conquer, that is why you have failed"

"SHUT UP!!" The Skrull yelled.

Slayer squeezed his hand until the palm went white and Sieg slammed his fist into the ground.

"Damn it, everything we did came down to nothing…Jean I'm so sorry!" Sieg moaned as tears flowed down his face.

"Looks like I was right! ALL'S YOU DO IS DIE ON YOUR FRIENDS!!!!" Emma yelled at Jean, equally as depressed as anyone else.

Sieg's sword reappeared and he stabbed it into the ground as his body returned to normal. He looked at Jean as she shined with the flames of the Phoenix.

"I'm so sorry Scott…I love you now and forever just as I love all of you my friends…but this is how things must be!" Jean said as she peacefully smiled with her eyes closed.

"NO!!!" Both Cyclops and the Skrull yelled.

"YOU STUPID WOMAN!!!!!"

Jean opened her eyes and much to her shock she saw Soldier holding her shoulders firmly, his form unaffected by the flames.

"IS THAT IT HUH! YOUR JUST GOING TO GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE! IF YOU REALLY LOVED THEM THEN YOU WOULD FIGHT TO KEEP THEM! DON'T ALWAYS RELY ON THE POWER OF THE PHOENIX! RELY ON YOUR OWN STRENGTH AND MORE IMPORTANTLY DON'T GIVE UP!!!! LOOK AT THEM LOOK AT THE PEOPLE YOU CLAIM TO LOVE AT THE MAN YOU CLAIM TO LOVE! DO YOU WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH HIM!!!!"

Jean looked at Scott with tears in her eyes.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with him!" Jean said.

"What was that I couldn't hear you?" Soldier asked.

"I…I WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH SCOTT SUMMERS!!!!"

"THEN PROVE IT!!!" Soldier roared.

The White Phoenix costume was replaced with Jean's Marvel Girl uniform. Soldier let go of Jean, who ran straight into Scott's arms.

"Ah how sweet, you can trade killing yourself to letting me kill you!" The Skrull chuckled. "Thanks Soldier!"

The Skrull fired a beam of the Phoenix's energy out of his hand, hitting Soldier in the back.

"SOLDIER!!" Sieg yelled as the masked mans form flew straight past them.

Wolverine and X-23 snarled before they ran at the Skrull Phoenix. He aimed the palm of his hand at the X-men, releasing a flurry of Phoenix fire. But much to the Skrulls surprise, the Black Phoenix intercepted the flames with his optic beams. The Skrull grinned before he fired a beam straight through the Black Phoenix's chest.

"Looks like all's you'll get from this whole experience is pain!" The Skrull laughed.

"Son of a bitch!" Slayer growled before he ran with Beast and Sieg.

Pixie's soul dagger appeared in her hand as she and Angel flew at the Skrull. Iceman threw several diamond shards at the Skrull, who laughed as he pulled the spikes out. The Skrull fired orange beams from his hands and eyes, hitting X-23 in the chest and Angel's wing. Rockslide, in his regular form ran at the Skrull, attempting to punch him round the face. But when Santo's fist made contact, he widened his eyes as the Skrull remained motionless as a statue.

"Fool…I AM NOW INVINCIBLE!!!" The Skrull yelled as he twitched his head.

With that single twitch, Santo was thrown back, his arms and legs crumbling to pieces as he slammed into Mercury. The Summers brothers fired at the Skrull, knocking him back a few feet with their combined power. Slayer and Sieg slashed the Skrull across the back and chest, but he merely slapped them away. Then he punched Wolverine in the stomach, sending him to the floor, vomiting out blood.

"This is unreal, all my life my fellow Skrulls have looked at me with disgust as a mutant, they feared me, spat on me but now with the power of the Phoenix I can rule not only this galaxy but the entire universe…I came to the Earth at the same time that a group of other Skrulls planned a secret invasion, I had no interest in their goals…but I played along and volunteered to impersonate Scott Summers, it was too easy capturing him and everyone of you senselessly believed that I was him, even when I acted out of character, the hypnotic abilities I absorbed from the Super Skrull and the psychic abilities of Xavier guaranteed a perfect act…you see X-men I am a Skrull mutant, I evolved beyond any of them, no tracker could identify me, no technology could detect me, and I used to think that no magic could uncover me, but alas I was wrong about that…anyway, my plan was very simple, to absorb the infinite power of the Phoenix, but absorbing Jean Grey's power was difficult so I strove to drive the full power of the Phoenix out through an affair with Emma Frost…but unfortunately Xorn ended my plan, with Jean Grey dead I just relied on absorbing the power of different X-men and super humans, and that meant being a super hero in order to get close to them…for a while at least it worked, and the nights with Frost were at least a bonus, when the Phoenix returned my hopes went up but again and again something kicked me in the ass and ruined my plans"

"YEAH WE GET IT YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!!" Hellion yelled.

The Skrull quickly silenced the boy with a telekinetic punch to the chest. Beast leapt forward, but his kicks did nothing to even phase the Skrull before he was thrown aside. Pixie thrust her dagger forward, but the blade shattered upon contact with the Skrulls skin.

'God damn it, this guys invincible!' Sieg thought as Jean and Rachel tried to hit the Skrull with telepathic blasts before they were pushed into the arms of Cable and Scott.

"Now as I was saying, my efforts were ruined, so I continued with business and pleasure as usual…then came the mutant child…I sensed an essence of the Phoenix inside her, and I knew that that was a foreshadowing of a greater event to come, then came the invasion and after that came the present situation…however I rightly believed that absorbing the Phoenix force would be difficult so I thought if I couldn't become the Phoenix then I could at least control Jean Grey with her husband Scott Summers, I believe you call it black mail or hostage demands"

"Your plan has some considerable flaws!" Slayer said, glaring at the Skrull with his sword ready.

"I was just lucky you humans are so stupid!" The Skrull smiled.

Wolverine got up off the floor and stabbed both his claws into the Phoenix's chest.

"Who you calling stupid bub?"

The Skrull merely chuckled as he blasted Wolverine away, "Yes and that was so intelligent!" he said.

'This guys too powerful, it's over…I'm so sorry Celeste I broke my promise' Sieg thought, clutching his sword tightly.

"Now X-men, how should I use the force to kill you, or maybe I could turn you all into my slaves, I must admit I did enjoy my nights with Frost, she was certainly better than any Skrull woman and I was wondering whether any of the other women were as good" The Skrull grinned as he lifted the female members of the team up telepathically and got them into a line.

"You had a crush on Cyclops?" The Skrull asked Pixie, tracing a finger across her cheek.

Megan trembled in fear while the other X-men growled at the Skrulls actions. Soldier tried getting up off the floor, but fell to his bloody knees.

"Let me show you, what he's really like!" The Skrull grinned as he changed into Scott's form and cupped Megan's cheeks.

"YOU'RE A SICK BASTARD!!!" Ink yelled.

Soldier gathered the rest of his strength and threw his shield as hard as he could. The shield slammed into the Skrulls face, and much to his and everyone else's shock he was knocked away from Pixie. Each one of the X-women landed on the floor while the Skrull glared at Soldier. For a moment the Skrull thought he saw a fire in the masked mans eyes. The Skrull pulled his arm back, creating a flaming Phoenix wing.

'I'm sorry Celeste' Sieg thought as he closed his eyes.

The Skrull wrapped his wing around the entire X-men team. Black Phoenix widened his eyes as he watched the wing cover the X-men. He crawled across the floor and stretched his hands out towards the flames before he lowered his head. The Skrull proudly smirked as he released his hold, just imagining the twisted forms he had turned the X-men into with the Phoenix's power.

"WHAT!!!" The Skrull yelled in utter horror.

The X-men were intact, each one with a confused expression on their face. Even Sieg was confused, which only deepened when he looked at his crystallised sword. Suddenly the hilt of the sword began to shine and the X-men felt a great emotion run through their minds, even X-23 smiled at the sight of the shining sword. Sieg stared at his blade while the Skrull grinded his teeth together. As the Skrull pulled his fist back again the sword flashed and the Skrull was knocked back.

"**I can't allow that!" **A voice spoke.

A smile crossed Sieg's face as the hollow and ghostly image of the heroes' spirit within his sword appeared before him and the X-men. The hero maintained a confident pose, his arms crossed, obviously smiling behind his helmet.

"**Sieg don't just give up like this…you've still got one trick up your sleeve!" **The Spirit said, turning his head towards Sieg. **"You all need to have faith in this boy, the only way you can have a hero is by having faith in someone"**

"It doesn't matter if you know them, it doesn't matter whether they have flashy powers or a pretty costume, it doesn't matter whether they have a history of drug abuse or are the perfect image of a saint…If that man is trying to save you, then believe in him" Sieg said with the hero as he got up off the floor.

As the spirit disappeared back into the blade Sieg looked to Slayer, who nodded his head. The other X-men did their best to stand, while Rachel and Cable lifted Soldier over their shoulders. Sieg held his sword out in front of his face.

"What ever it is you have planned it wont work fool!" The Skrull said.

Suddenly, Slayer appeared in front of him, slashing him across the face with his enchanted blade.

"Whatever your going to do Sieg do it now!" Jack said.

"Just need a little bit more, come on guys, surely you can show a little more courage than this!!" Sieg growled as he held his sword above his head.

"YOU HEARD HIM PEOPLE!!!" Cyclops yelled as he ran at the Skrull.

The other X-men soon followed, attacking the Skrull alongside Slayer and Cyclops. Wolverine struck with his claws, Ororo cooked up a Storm while mother and daughter pushed the Skrull with their combined TK.

"This is it! THIS IS THE COURAGE I NEED!!!" Sieg yelled as his eyes shined the same red colour the sword did.

The Sword shattered to pieces as skin-tight black fabric replaced his clothes. Blue eye lenses appeared over his facemask and a crystal chest plate with shoulder guards and a long, tail like spine appeared on his body and back. Blue, red and grey armour plates covered his wrists and elbows, but left his black-gloved hands exposed, his left hand gauntlet had what was left of his hilt and blade running towards the edge of his elbow. His lower armour, except for his feet were then covered in blue, red and grey crystal armour. Victory Peace's eyes glowed as he looked towards the M'Kran crystal.

"Wait a second, he's gone mad stop him you fools!!" The Skrull said as he slapped Sunspot off of him.

Xavier, Emma, Jean and Rachel put their hands to their heads and suddenly the Skrull began screaming in pain. As Sieg began running forward, Slayer and Wolverine jumped towards the Skrull. The two men slashed him right in the chest as Sieg ran past.

"YOU FOOLS HE'LL DESTROY EVERYTHING!!!"

"Wrong bub" Logan smirked.

Cyclops and his brothers fired at the Skrull, knocking him back a few paces. Phoenix raptors appeared in front of Sieg's path. He chopped one of the phoenix aura's in half with his hand and knocked the other aside with a sweeping kick. Sieg continued running, squeezing his hand into a fist as he got closer and closer to the crystal.

"Shattering the crystal will destroy the universe, the universe that the Phoenix resides in, the White Hot room itself!" Jean said as she, Cable, Hellion and Rachel combined their telekinetic powers to deliver a crushing punch to the Skrull's stomach.

"The Phoenix is a mystery as is the crystal, whoever said that the whole universe had to be destroyed?" Cyclops asked before blasting the Skrull with his two brothers by his side.

"It ends now, the "destiny" of every omega level telepath ends, as does your megalomania!" Xavier said, looking at the Skrull defiantly alongside his X-men.

"No more sacrifices, no more rising again…the days of the Phoenix are over" Emma smiled as she deflected a blast that the Skrull aimed at Scott.

The Skrull stepped back in fear, looking over his shoulder as Sieg got closer and closer towards the crystal.

"Wait please think about this, the Phoenix is the fire of creation, of life and death itself!" The Skrull said.

Slayer stepped forward, his eye and sword glowing as he got closer and closer towards the Skrull.

"Your wrong, the Phoenix claims to be these things…but it isn't, the fire that you speak of is inside all of us, death waits for all of us but sometimes things will be revived, someone's goals or dreams may live on through another person, the love that two people share lives forever in people like Scott and Jean, faith in both humanity and god lies inside men and women like Kurt, even I continue the traditions and honour of so many warriors and of course with these "Young X-men" and little Jeannie the dream of Xavier and the X-men will live on" Slayer explained with a smile across his face. "But unfortunately bad things…no evil and dishonourable acts are continued through people like you, but you…your not eternal!!!"

The Skrull widened his eyes and Slayer yelled. He stabbed his mystical blade straight into the aliens heart. Sieg leapt at the crystal, however pillars appeared out of the ground, smashing him across the face. His helmet shattered and his mask torn as he knocked onto his back. With a lash of his armours tail, Sieg got back up. A beam fired out of the crystal, cracking Sieg's chest plate. Sieg skidded across the floor but ran at the crystal again.

"We sure about this plan guys?" Hellion asked.

"Shut up and keep believing in him Keller!" Laura threatened.

"Yes ma'am!" Julian gulped.

On Earth, a smile crossed Blindfolds face as for once her predictions were wrong. Celeste put her hands together and closed her eyes, thinking of Sieg's success. The Shiar bowed their heads in respect as the Phoenix aura's attacking their ships began to disappear. In the White Hot room the aura of the Phoenix appeared over the crystal.

"YOU FOOLS YOU CANT END THIS!!!" The Skrull yelled.

"He can do it!" Soldier said.

"GO FOR IT SIEG!!!" Slayer yelled.

Sieg growled as the flames shattered his chest plate and his left greave. His skin changed to a blue colour while his pupils disappeared. Sieg worked through the flames, a thin but tough blue barrier protecting him. He pulled his fist back and crashed his fist into the crystal, completely shattering it. The pieces of the crystal floated around the white-hot room, slowly disintegrating.

"I can feel it, the Phoenix is gone!" Jean said in astonishment.

"And Mr Green's dead!" Wolverine said, motioning to the lifeless corpse impaled by Slayer's sword.

Jack pulled his sword out of the carcass and turned to Sieg. In a flash of light, Sieg's regular appearance and clothing returned. Havok and Raza lifted Soldier onto their shoulders and gather in with the rest of the X-men, joined soon after by Sieg. With the White-hot room breaking apart around them, Pixie began chanting the teleportation spell. Her eyes widened when the spell didn't work.

"What's the hold up Megan?" Cessily asked.

"The teleportation spell doesn't work" Slayer said, having attempted the same spell.

"DAMN IT! AFTER ALL THAT WE STILL DIE!!!" Sieg yelled falling to his knees.

The X-men lowered their heads as the very walls of the White-hot room began to shatter just as the smaller pieces of the crystal remaining shattered. Jean and Scott looked at one another before they peacefully held one another.

"If this is the way we die, then this is how I want to spend my remaining time with you" Scott said as he kissed his wife's forehead.

Slayer drew his sword and stabbed it into the ground, closing his eyes in a silent prayer. The Black Phoenix stood far away from the group, looking at his hand as the fabric of his costume faded. He looked at Jean and Scott, so peaceful and in love and blocked the image of the X-men with his hand.

**'My goals have been misguided; peace is not death, rather what you do with your life before death…I lost my loved ones and because I die with the White Hot room I can never see them again…but please! Please don't let them die because of my actions, please Phoenix, give me one gift after all Jean and I have done for you as the Phoenix's of the crown, the chance to save them, to redeem some of the harm we've done'**

The X-men gasped as an orange ring appeared around them. Slayer looked towards the Black Phoenix, who had a smile on his face as the X-men disappeared. With the X-men gone, returned to their dimension the lone final member of the Phoenix corp. closed his tearful eyes.

**"Thank you! Thank you so much!"** He thanked the Phoenix, thanked the warrior and the hero and especially the lovers, who had showed him true peace.

He opened his eyes and a shocked expression crossed his face as he saw a man standing before him. The man wore an oversized blue coat, he had sandy blonde hair and dull grey eyes, but his grin caused the old Black Phoenix to smile.

**"You!"** he said.

The young man reached his hand out towards the Phoenix.

"Come on, they've been waiting for you!" He said.

The Black Phoenix took the mans hand and suddenly the White hot room disappeared, replaced with whiteness. He looked around, seeing no sign of the man that had pulled him into this place. Suddenly he heard a sound that bought tears of happiness to his eyes.

"Daddy!"

* * *

The Planet that had appeared in the Shiar galaxy disappeared and the X-men reappeared in James's ship. Jean and Scott both embraced one another warmly, while some members of the X-men thanked the Black Phoenix. Sieg looked out into space with a warm expression on his face. James threw off the scraps of his armour and returned to the pilot seat.

"So what do you guys say to going home?" He asked his passengers.

The X-men gave the mysterious billionaire a look, which to him meant, "What the hell do you think?"

Next Final Chapter: Returning home

* * *

Yep next up is the final chapter, hope everybody enjoyed the fic and thank you slickboy for letting me borrow Slayer. Next will feature more Sieg/Celeste and Jean/Scott love, the X-men go through some changes and unfortunately Cable meets an unfortunate fate (smiles with mischief)

Also featured will be some suprise guest stars both original and from the main marvel universe

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	12. Final Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men, Avengers or the New Warriors

Special thanks to slickboy444 for letting me borrow his OC Jack Robinson AKA Slayer

* * *

The Cry of the Phoenix

Final Chapter: Returning home

With the threat of the Phoenix over things returned to normal. With no one to oppose her rule Lilandra rose to the Shiar throne, carrying on a peaceful reign. James returned the X-men to earth, the ruined Xavier institute to be exact. As the Ultimatum landed on the ruined school grounds, the Cuckoos and Blindfold ran out of the subbasement. Sieg and Celeste ran at each other, tackling one another to the ground. Celeste held Sieg's shoulders tightly while he ran a hand across her cheek. The two young lovers kissed one another with passion that almost put Jean and Scott to shame.

"Find a room you two!" James said, shaking his head as he and the rest of the team got out of the jet.

"I can't believe that all this happened when I was away" Rachel said, looking at the ruins in horror.

"So what exactly are we going to do?" Domino asked.

"We could return to San Fran, after all we are treated like celebrities over there" Warren suggested.

"Yeah I want a chance to show those people the coolest member of the team" Bobby grinned.

Soldier's ears twitched as a grey and red limo drove towards the mansion. Some of the X-men stood their ground as the limo stopped just inches from James's legs. The Billionaire merely shook his head as he looked at his watch.

"You broke your previous record by 2 seconds Driver" James said as the driver poked his head out of the window, he had a cheesy grin across his face, along with a pair of sunglasses.

"What is with you and these grey and red colours?" Jack asked.

"A friend of mine had an infatuation with the colours"

One of the limo doors opened and some of the male young X-men dropped their jaws as James's gorgeous blonde haired secretary stepped out, wearing a red business dress and carrying a clipboard. She walked up to James's and placed a finger on his chest.

"Look at your suit, its filthy, did you wear that stupid Iron man rip off armour again?" She asked.

"Listen Gloria I think your overreacting just a little don't you think?" James asked with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Oh don't get started on that, I'd rather not be stuck with the company, next time let one of your androids handle it" Gloria said, her eyes then turned to Sieg holding Celeste and a smile crossed her face. "I knew you thought about girls, and Driver was actually betting me on whether you were gay or A-sexual" she said.

Sieg growled at Driver, whose head crept back into the car.

"Okay, what exactly are you guys doing here?" Pixie asked, fluttering in between James and Gloria.

"You see Megan despite how well things are going in San Francisco, I still feel that the world needs a school for mutants, and rather than having them go to Stark's little boot camp I've decided that I'll rebuild the school for you" James explained.

"But James, they're hardly any mutants left" Dani pointed out.

"You've got your powers back Miss Moonstar, whose to say that other mutants wont get their powers back, in fact a certain silver haired speedster is now a speedster again"

"Whose that?" Julian asked.

"Never mind! What I'm getting at is exactly what Slayer got at, who said that mutants had to end, who has the right to say no more mutants, some crazy woman?" James asked and some of the X-men who knew of the House of M had to chuckle at his comment.

"This seems very generous of you James but what's in it for you?" Xavier asked.

"It's actually quite simple really, I'll have a chance to spend some money that's actually growing cobwebs in my wallet and the mutants that will soon be born will have people to look up to, besides the Avengers have a team in every state, surely the X-men can have two teams"

"Maybe you're right, but what makes you think that more mutants will be born?" Emma asked sceptically.

"Well if one was born what's to stop others, besides it wouldn't hurt to spread the teams out, some of your kids still have a lot to learn about themselves and their powers" Gloria said.

"And where exactly is little Jeannie going to learn otherwise, with Bishop dead and the Purifiers gone for good there are less threats to the baby so why not have her live here at the mansion?" Slayer asked.

"Actually guys while Jean and I were in the Ultimatum's bathroom we both decided that we'd raise the girl" Scott said.

The X-men looked at the two lovers in confusion. Jean took the baby from Mindee and rocked her in her arms. Scott removed his visor and put on his shades.

"Jean and I want to spend a little time away from the X-men, we want to put our relationship back together, and I still need to catch up on everything that's happened while I've been away"

"And I don't know whether I have what it takes to teach these children" Xavier said, lowering his head as he thought about all the children that had died under his tutelage.

"Professor with all due respect we all make mistakes, the point is to learn from them and move on, I think out of all the people in the world you're the one whose most qualified to teach these children" Soldier said.

Soldier nodded his head in respect before he began walking towards the exit.

"Where are you going in your condition?" Rachel asked.

"Mutant Zero's gone, mission failed, the mission that was actually right however is a complete success so I'm not needed here" Soldier said. "But I will leave some of you with words" The masked man turned to the X-men, his eyes fixed on Emma, Jean and Scott and Sieg.

"Don't let anyone bring you down, that goes especially for you Sieg, not the people you protect, not the politicians, not even the Avengers, don't let anyone try to steer you. Scott, love Jean and protect her, no…look after each other and have as happy a life as you can while your together…cause in this world you never know what waits around the corner. Emma... try not to go after a married man"

Emma shook her head in anger at the mans comment but couldn't help but smile. The Cuckoos and Logan however merely laughed.

"Sieg, keep at it, your hero would be proud of the path your taking so stick to it…and more importantly don't register, you'll only be held back by the government"

Sieg nodded his head. With that said, Soldier began walking towards the exit.

"Soldier wait!" Jack called.

Soldier turned his head back towards Slayer, who had a calm expression across his face.

"Take the mask off!" Slayer said and Soldier widened his eyes, "Don't let your past drag you down, put it behind you"

Soldier merely walked away while Jack bowed his head in respect. Scott and Jean looked at one another, both captivated by the features of their lovers. They embraced and shared a passionate kiss that bought a smile to everyone's faces. Blindfold mover her head towards the sky, smiling for the bright future ahead.

* * *

**Several weeks later**

New York, home of the Mighty Avengers, but for strange reasons they never seem be around you need them, even with a giant robot rampaging. As usual people screamed and ran away. The greyish robot raised its foot, ready to squash a few petrified people. Suddenly a telekinetic force pushed the robot, sending it crashing to the ground. The machine rose to its feet, looking upon a band of X-men walking through the crowd. Amongst this group were Rachel Summers, Wolverine, Colossus, Havok, Angel and Emma Frost.

"Emma, get some of these people out" Havok commanded.

"It still amazes me how some people become so petrified" Emma sighed as she used her telepathy to make people run away from the incident.

"Rachel, give us some protection"

"You got it uncle Alex!" Rachel smiled.

The robot began firing beams from its eyes, but these beams only made contact with the telekinetic bubble Rachel created.

"Colossus, Wolverine give me a hole to fire in"

"Yes Comrade!" Colossus said as he grabbed Wolverine and threw him towards the robot.

Wolverine popped his claws out and stabbed them into the robots chest. He began slashing at its armour, tearing through until he had a clear view of the machines power core. Before he could raise his arm to stab it, the robot shot Wolverine off of him. Angel picked Havok up by his armpits and flew him towards the robots level. With a clear shot, Alex fired, disintegrating the robots power source. Some people that were left couldn't help but cheer as the robot crashed to the ground. Wolverine sniffed at the air and growled as a familiar man in red and gold armour landed on the remains of the robot.

"So you guys weren't happy with Cisco and Westchester were you? You just had to come and move in on my territory too huh?" Iron man asked.

"Well Mr Stark you see there's a perfectly good explanation for why we've come here, in fact he should be stepping out of the alleyway there in five seconds" Emma said as she pointed towards an alleyway.

And as she said, five seconds later an orange haired boy stepped out of the shadows, however unlike most boys his arms were giving off a living shadow affect. He looked at the X-men and smiled as Emma walked towards him.

"Ah Noah, I always wondered where you had gone" Emma said, smiling down at the young man.

"Hi Miss Frost, I was just minding my own business when some sentinel wannabe attacked me, my gauntlets were damaged and now my powers are really starting to act up" Noah explained.

"It's okay, we can get Forge to fix them right up" Emma said.

"Thanks but there's something else I was wondering you could help me with, a load of homeless kids suddenly have active mutations, low class ones but still it was rather strange"

"That's precisely why we're here" Emma said.

From the rooftops watched Slayer, his eyes glowing with a smile on his face. He looked at Emma welcoming the new mutants in her arms and three figures watching the group from the roof. Two of them were women, one Asian wearing a brown costume with a yellow W on her chest, as well as a pair of gauntlets and a mask covering her chin. Beside her was a brown haired girl wearing a domino mask with a black a brown outfit and jacket. Then there was a young man that remarkably resembled a friendlier looking apocalypse. The three New Warriors soon left the scene as the Black bird arrived.

The X-men and the Initiative reached a hesitant agreement. X-men would take care of mutants and the world, while the Avengers took care of America. The X-men would teach and train mutants, who in turn would decide whether they wanted a future in the Initiative or a future with the Xavier institute. As Slayer and Soldier said, mutants began manifesting, but with new mutants came new threats, but the X-men would face each one with a clear mind.

* * *

James's men had just started on constructing the new mansion. They had first spent time on rebuilding the memorial. Every student that had ever died now had a gravestone while statues stood of the fallen X-men Thunderbird, Bishop, Wolf Cub, Korvus, Wolfsbane and Bishop. James stood, watching the rebuilding while Driver supervised it.

**"Comeonpeoplesurelyyoucanmovefasterthanthat!!"** The hyperactive speedster said, running around the builders.

The subbasement had already been rebuilt thanks to Forge and Beast. Dani, Sam, Roberto and Amara now taught the Young X-men. The Starjammers had returned to space, with Warpath joining them so he could be with Hephzibah. Bobby walked through the corridors of the subbasement, guiding their guest around the place. He opened the door to the danger room, where inside the atmosphere now looked like a kids playroom.

"Nathan, you in here?" Bobby asked.

"Under here!" A voice called from underneath a pile of soft toys.

Nathan's head poked out of the toy pile, an annoyed expression spread across his face while the baby-sitting in the pram across from him giggled.

"Scott and Jean had better be back soon!" He growled.

"Yeah I figured you'd need help with the baby so I called a friend of yours over" Bobby said with a smile. "You can come in now!"

As soon as the man stepped into the room Cable widened his eyes in utter horror. Bobby merely smiled as he closed the door behind him, leaving Cable alone with a man dressed in a red and black costume. He was a merc with a mouth, or rather the merc with the mouth.

**"Cable Cable Cable! Where have you been buddy?"** Wade Wilson asked as he walked into the room.

Nathan couldn't bring himself to answer, rather his eyebrow twitched.

**"Damn the Phoenix got you good, you've got to go through puberty again dude, oh so this is the baby that everybody made a fuss about, she's ten times as cute as you were as a baby, you know I looked up on the internet, apparently a lot of fans have been thinking that she's the 616 version of your sister or a reincarnated version of your mother…now it was odd enough that Cyclops was your father but you were old enough to be his grandfather but you have to look after your mom now…"**

As Deadpool continued to rant and break the forth wall Cable could only sink back into the toy pile while Bobby laughed on the other side.

* * *

Elsewhere Jean and Scott, best friends and husband and wife sat in a restaurant. All expenses paid by the ever-charitable James. Jean was dressed in a beautiful green dress while Scott was dressed in a suit.

"It's been weird, not having the Phoenix inside me" Jean said as she read her menu.

"You don't miss it do you?" Scott asked.

"While I was there, on the outside I did my duty and watched life move forward, but I guess I couldn't fool him"

"By him you mean…"

"Yes, the Black Phoenix…I suppose you could've called him my friend, and out of all of us he was the one who hated the Phoenix the most, the one who loved his old life the most…that's why he rebelled, he wanted to see his loved ones again…he wanted to die and stay with them in the afterlife" Jean explained.

"I suppose I should have thanked him, without him then I wouldn't have been able to do this" Scott leant across the table and kissed his wife on the lips.

Jean grabbed the back of Scott's head and deepened the kiss. The two of them continued this passionate moment even with the waiter tapping his foot impatiently against the floor. When they finally separated the waiter placed a bottle of wine on the table.

"What's this?" Scott asked, looking at the expensive wine.

"From the gentleman at the back there" The Waiter said.

Jean and Scott looked curiously towards the bar. A blonde haired man wearing a tattered coat sat with his back to them. He moved his fingers into a salute to the couple, but he never looked back at them. Jean smiled as she remembered her days as Mutant Zero.

"Thank you Soldier" She whispered.

The man paid his tab and began walking away. On his way out a grin crossed his face as he saw Rogue and Gambit dancing with one another with Julian and Laura awkwardly following their moves. He walked out of the restaurant and put on his hood, hiding his features from the world. Though he didn't make a lot of friends out of the higher ups of the Initiative, his conscience was clear because he did the right thing.

* * *

At an unknown location, Sieg sat on the branch of a tree, looking up at the starlit sky. He could still remember the adventure he had with the X-men. In fact that was one of the only things he was thinking about. The X-men had always been his first favourite group of heroes and not only had he saved some of their lives, was on first name terms with each of them but he was now dating one of the Young X-men. Though he was still a fugitive of the law, Sieg had never been happier.

'They're got a long and difficult road ahead of them, hell mines probably going to be just as complicated, still any thing that gets thrown our way we can overcome' Sieg thought as he remembered the words that Slayer had told him.

_"Don't be too concerned about your skill Sieg, we all make mistakes, some cost us more than others but there isn't anything we can do about them, just move on to the next fight…your probably not going to register but remember this if you think about it "you have the power, it's just a matter of how use It"…and you Victory Peace definitely know how to use it"_

Though with so many adventures waiting for him, Sieg didn't really have much time to hang out with Celeste. Though the relationship probably wouldn't work out Sieg smiled that he would always have friends with the X-men. He smiled that he had made his heroes proud, smiled that mutants were finally moving forward, smiled that Jean and Scott could finally be together. And above all else he smiled that people could still put their faith in others.

The End of another adventure

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Hope everyone enjoyed the fic, I certainly enjoyed writing it :). The idea came to me when Secret Invasion was being advertised and when i read slickboy's Phoenix Destiny fic I was encouraged by the idea of Scott's affair with Emma not being what it seemed. The OC's Gloria and Driver will appear at some point in my sequal to the Marvel unvierse series True Heroism. Noah appears in my X-men Academy X series, he's inspired by a character who was named but never appeared in the New X-men Academy X series as Hellion's lab partner. I originally made Noah as a light manipulating mutant with a possible multiple personality or another being in his body that could control shadows. But in my new version of Academy X (yes I'm restarting that fic again) he'll control both light and darkness and will be a regular student at the mansion with a normal mental state.

As for the Sieg/Celeste pairing I'll either have them break up or stay together in a possible sequal. Or I'll make a one-shot in which Sieg has to decide between Celeste or another young X-woman he's gaining an attraction to (cant figure out which one but the top of the list is Pixie). Some ideas I have for a possible sequal would involve either a crossover with the Exiles and the Shiar Imperial Guard in which the Phoenix corps of other realities try to restore the Phoenix of 616 by sacrificing the Earth. Another idea involves Gothica (an OC villain in my Marvel Universe series) placing Sieg in a nightmare trance, while the X-men telepaths attempt to pull him out of the trance, Slade Muga (another OC, not to be confused with the father of Aeon Slade Reilly) comes into conflict with the Initiative , the Runaways and even Selene in his search for a way to wake his friend up from the life threatening coma.

My restarted version of Academy X will be retitled The Dream we Share and puts more enthesive on the bonds that the students of the mansion and the X-men form with one another. Other highlights will be the love between Cyclops and Jean, Wolverine's rivalry and mutual grudging respect for Sabretooth (who is like the Exiles version of the character). And of course the fights of the X-men and Karl, an OC who I had previously used as a central character in the first arc but instead he'll be replacing Virgil in the main character slot. I'll probably post the beginning chapter before christmas, if you like the X-men you'll probably like or hate what I've got in mind.

Thank you to anyone who read my fic, leave a review telling what you thought if you'd like, also tell me what you think of my other ideas please


	13. The Sequal

The Sequel

The Echo of Destiny

Name: Unknown

Aliases: Slade Muga, The Hero who doesn't care (Daily Bugle)

Age: Unknown, physically appears to be in early twenties

Contacts within the last week: Siegfried Wallace

Last place of appearance: New York

Threat Level: Unknown

Blood type: Unknown

Family: Unknown

Powers: Increased durability in bones and skin, near Olympic standard stamina and fitness, defining ability is the shield and armour that covers his left arm, an armour and scythe will cover and appear in his right arm

The director of the Thunderbolts and the new face of the Initiative looked at the data on his desk screens. They showed video footage from the Skrull invasion, specifically a battle between a super Skrull with the collective powers of Xavier's first group of New X-men and the man known as Slade Muga. He was a short man, at least five feet 2 by Norman's calculations; his clothes consisted of dirty grey trousers, a blue coat with a high collar that left the sides of his neck partially covered, the coat also had black lines running down it towards his heels. A pair of grey and red armoured boots covered his feet starting from his knees, while underneath his coat he wore a white and red shirt, he also wore a pair of red gloves. Slade's hair was a blonde colour, with the back spiking downwards and a few strands of his fringe hanging over his eyes.

Slade had some potential, but the problem was he lacked skill, when he fought the Super Skrull to put it lightly he was getting ass kicked. But he was able to knock his opponent out cold with of all things a head butt. He was a renegade hero with quite frankly little training and care for what the people thought of him. And that made him the perfect candidate to be figuratively crucified by the Thunderbolt Initiative.

* * *

It was the dead of night at the Xavier Institute. Days since the incident with the Phoenix, the mansion was already becoming a sanctuary for mutants again. The Stepford Cuckoos now slept in their own separate rooms, their own sense of individuality restored thanks to one boy. Celeste smiled as she opened her eyes, wearing a vest and a pair of tight shorts. She pulled the covers off and looked towards her window. Celeste immediately walked over to the window, pulling it open.

"Hi Celeste!" Sieg said with a smile across his face.

A seductive smile crossed Celeste's face as she beckoned him to enter. Sieg climbed into the room, placing his hands on Celeste's hips.

"**So have you thought of Xavier's offer Sieg?" **Celeste asked telepathically as she ran her hands through Sieg's hair.

'I'm not sure Celeste, I've always wanted to help people but I didn't want that to be exclusively mutants' Sieg thought.

"**Your so sweet…I love you!"**

Sieg opened his mouth, shocked at what Celeste had sent him. She slipped off his jacket and pressed her lips against his, falling back onto her bed. Celeste ran her hands up Sieg's shirt, smiling as he kissed her neck. It was the perfect moment, and she only needed to hear one thing for it to become heaven.

"Celeste I…" But the young hero could not finish his words.

The mansion suddenly shook, waking up its inhabitants. Emma Frost shot up; using her telepathy to identify whatever was out there. Her eyes glowed a white colour, but for a split second they glowed black before she clutched her head in pain. Kurt teleported to the repaired cafeteria, covering his eyes as a bright light shined at him. Sieg immediately slipped on his jacket, summoning his sword before he jumped out of the window. A deep mist had covered the school grounds that combined with the lack of moonlight made it difficult to see anything.

As the light shining in Kurt's face began to fade, the demonic mutant widened his eyes as a ghostly hand crashed through the glass and grabbed him. Sieg stood his ground as he heard an eerie cry echo through the mist. As the wind blew he held his sword out in a guard stance. A ghost like image appeared over the unaware Sieg. This ghost squeezed its fist before crashing it down on the young hero.

"SIEG!!" Celeste screamed as she felt her lover's pain.

* * *

Her red hair glistened in the sun light, like fire it waved around like it was alive. Gabriel stood ready in the presence of the beautiful woman, who reminded him so much of his brothers wife. She even wore a modified version of the very first X-men uniform, but the X on her chest was replaced with a symbol of the phoenix and in the place of the cowl she wore a domino mask.

"Who are you?" Vulcan asked, weary around this woman.

"The future!" She whispered with a smile.

* * *

A figure stood on the spire of the empire state building, clad in gold and red armour resembling Iron man's. As the lighting flashed around him, he looked down at the city in contempt.

"The destruction and death of the past will be changed, but the end result will be the same…the world wanted heroes, but what it needs is an enslaver!"

Multiple holes appeared around the armoured warrior as he crossed his arms and the members of his team stepped out of them.

"WE WILL ENSLAVE ALL AND CREATE A WORLD OF ORDER AND TRUE PEACE!!!!"

* * *

Slade is sent flying headfirst into a building. As he lies with bits of rubble on his body he shakes his head, stones falling out of his hair as he looks towards his opponent. His ears twitch as he hears a roar. What appears to be a longhaired version of the Hulk jumps towards Slade. He quickly jumps out of the way and runs towards the battle between Iron man and what appears to be Emma Frost with ruby skin, a Sorceress Supreme and the Super Skrull.

* * *

"What exactly is going on here?" Spider-man asks a healing Wolverine.

"Most of the kids have been attacked and scattered across the country, or at least that's what Chuck has told me, he's got no idea where Cyclops is"

Luke Cage steps in, followed by Cloak and Dagger.

"I've just gotten off the horn with Fury, he says the young Avengers had been attacked, and some of those kids in LA have been put in hospital, apparently some of them wont make it through the night" He explained.

* * *

The Thunderbolts face down the renegade hero Slade, whose right arm is covered in black armour and fabric with a red, blade like shoulder pad, while his left arm was covered in white and red armour. He carried both a black shield and a red and white scythe, the latter of which rested on his shoulder.

"You've got two ways out, either you turn yourself in…or you know what happened to Jack Flag" Moonstone said, almost smiling at the memory.

Slade opens his eyes and looks towards the Thunderbolts.

"There's always another way, anything can be achieved through trying, you manipulated everything, to show the world that you were the heroes they wanted and needed…but I'll show them, that you aren't who they need!"

* * *

Emma Frost limped through the ruins of the collapsed Greymalkin building. With the unconscious and battered forms of Cannonball, Havok, Rogue, Iceman and multiple Maddrox dupes around her she looks up as their attacker hovers towards the ground. Suddenly overcome with a deep sense of fear, Emma falls to her knees as Iron man opens the palm of his hand.

"Your plans will fail in the future, but I think I'll settle for killing you now" He said.

* * *

Sieg leans on his sword, battered and beaten by the mansions attacker. Before he falls unconscious he utters two names.

"Celeste…Slade!"

* * *

Slade sits on a pile of rubble, his face looking at the cracked pavement in deep thought. He lifts his scythe onto his shoulder and picks up his shield before looking up at the darkening sky.

"The future…no that's not the absolute future, my friend needs saving, the world needs saving and the heroes need saving…I'LL BE THE ONE TO DO IT!!!!"

Like the New Warriors before him he runs into the unknown. But unlike the warriors he has the determination and the discipline not to fail. Unlike the warriors he has something he cares for at stake, something he's willing to give his life for a thousand…no, he's willing to die every time what he cares for is at stake.

* * *

_Sometimes the best intentions lead to hell; the actions of one or a few can change the world for the worst. But the actions of a few or even one can change it for the better._

_A Friend revived, friends lost! True intentions revealed! Heroes unite once more! The Next Generation shines!_

_The Avengers, the X-men and all of Marvel's heroes will face their greatest battle, and a hero will create his destiny!_

I thought that with how much fun I had writing Cry of the Phoenix I'd make a sequal, but instead of the two ideas I had earlier I'd settle for a mass crossover. It's going to be epic, the Avengers, X-men, New Warriors, even the Runaway kids will be involved. Slade will serve as the main character in all of it along with Iron man, Cap, Thor, Sieg and Celeste as focus characters.

If you didnt understand the previews then basically in a nutshell, a new (or old?) threat arrives on Earth at the same time as a group of future Avengers, but the question is are these Avengers here to stop the event or just create their present early? A New Mutant returns from the dead and heroes across the world are attacked by the invader. Can the heroes stop the onslaught that awaits, who will live and who will die. Sides will be taken and battles will be fought in Echo of Destiny!

Will be posted in the Marvel section


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